Slayers and Mutants and Keys Oh My!
by Wizard1
Summary: At last COMPLETE! Thanks to all my reviewers!
1. Prologue: Wedding Bells

Slayers and Mutants and Keys- Oh My!  
  
by Wizard  
  
Author's Note: the characters in this fanfic do not belong to me. They are the property of Mutant Enemy (Buffy and Co.), and Marvel Comics (X-Men/ New Mutants).  
  
Buffy-wise: This story occurs during Buffy S5. The prologue is post "Triangle" but pre "Checkpoint", and the rest is post "The Body." May veer off into AU- in fact, it probably will. Marvel-wise: Everything up to Uncanny X-Men #137 is canon. In this work, the Phoenix Entity left Jean after the battle in Uncanny X-Men #138. Also, this verse has been updated to 2000- well, this part of the timeline... you know what I mean. Also, the only other X- team at this time is the New Mutants. X-Men and the New Mutants- that's it.  
  
Prologue: Wedding Bells  
  
Sunnydale CA., January 2001.  
  
If there was one thing that Joyce Summers prided herself on, one thing above all others, then it was her family. There was no way that she could be prouder of her daughters. Buffy was the Slayer, a superhero for God's sake, and had saved literally the world on a number of occasions. And Dawn. Dawn was bright, perky, and loved school, which she did very well in. And everything else about her youngest. didn't matter at all. The love that Joyce Summers held for her daughters knew no bounds.  
  
But Joyce had other family. She didn't see her ex-husband very much any more, which was sort of fine by her, not that she'd ever let her daughters know that. Hank Summers was a great friend, but not such a good husband or father. It wasn't a problem with love- no one could doubt that he loved his daughters, and his wife once, but with Hank, it was a little like out of sight, out of mind. He lacked something of the responsibility that Christopher had.  
  
Joyce sighed. Chris. He was her ex-brother-in-law. He was a few years older than Hank and Joyce, and married Anne a little earlier in life than his younger brother did. Where Hank entered business, Chris entered the Air force, and became a pilot. A major, as a matter of fact. Joyce sighed again, lost in memory. She remembered Chris' quiet chuckle, Anne's vivacious giggle, not a little like Dawn's in fact, and remembered the horrible day that her family learned of the plane crash that took both of their lives. The one irresponsible thing that the couple did was not have a will, and Joyce privately wondered how two such responsible people could not write a will. For a while, Hank had the odd notion that someone sinister had somehow destroyed all traces of the will that his brother MUST have written. Joyce understood why- he blamed himself for the crash. After all, Chris was flying his family home from a visit to Los Angeles after Dawn was born. No, it wasn't after Dawn was born, it was for some other reason- Joyce shook that thought away. That sort of thinking could do her no good- it would make her as crazy as Hank seemed for a time, begging the courts for the custody of his two young nephews. Silently, with her whole being, and NOT for the first time, Joyce cursed the judge who prevented Hank and her from being allowed to have custody of Scott and Alex. Scott was twelve when his parents died, and Alex only ten. They should have gone to their family! But no- Alex was sent to faster care, but Scott was bounced from orphanage to orphanage until he wound up at Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.  
  
Joyce frowned. She remembered her nephews as youths- Scott a little on the serious side, Alex merry as Santa Claus. They were polite, not too well behaved, very protective of their younger cousin, and Joyce would never forget the expressions on their faces as they each held Dawn for the first time. except they never did. get a grip Joyce!  
  
She had missed out on most of her nephews' lives, even on their Graduation Ceremonies- from both High School and College. This brought another wave of sadness- she was forced out of town for Buffy's graduation, too. She was resolved to NOT miss Dawn's too. Anyway, she was both thrilled and apprehensive to receive an invitation to Scott's wedding. Scott was 25- Joyce wasn't that much older than that when she got married, and she was now divorced. She also didn't like the fact that Scott didn't seem to play the field- in all of his too-infrequent letters and phone calls he would only mention a girl named Jean. Unless he had a thing for girls named Jean, he had been after this one Jean since he was 18. But she didn't have the right to call Scott on it- she was only his aunt- well, technically his ex- aunt.  
  
She looked once more at the invitation that he sent her.  
  
"You are cordially invited to the wedding of Mr. Scott Summers, of Salem Centre NY, to Ms. Jean Grey, of Salem Centre NY, to be held at the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters on April 25, 2001. Please RSVP as soon as possible. Thank you very much, and we both hope to see you then."  
  
Joyce went to the stairs and called up. "Buffy! Dawn! Could you come down here please?" Joyce thought about the wedding. With all that was going on in their lives, a bit of good news like this was exactly what was needed.  
  
* * * * * * * * *  
  
Buffy felt a little shocked as her mother told the news. Okay, maybe stunned was the better word. Scott, married? At 25?  
  
"It won't last," Buffy thought to herself. "It'll go fine for a year, maybe two, and then it'll fall apart."  
  
Buffy chided herself for her cynicism. "Not every relationship a Summers has goes kablooey. Wait a minute. my parents, Ted, Angel, Riley. Okay, maybe they usually do, but that doesn't mean that this one will too. I hope."  
  
Through the moping, Buffy couldn't help but notice Dawn's enthusiasm.  
  
"Scotty married? When? April? Just in time for Spring Break! We're going, right? Who's he marrying? Her? Oh, she's pretty! Will we be staying at that mansion that Scott works at?" and on and on went the Dawnmeister.  
  
Buffy glanced down at the engagement picture that the invitation came with. There was Scott. With those prescription sunglasses that he had to wear it was usually hard to gauge his expression, but the smile he wore was unmistakeable. Next to him was Jean. She was a beautiful redhead, with green eyes and an ever so slightly mischievous smile. Her picture seemed nice, at least. Buffy couldn't wait to actually meet her.  
  
"First things first, Dawn," Joyce laughed. "Of course we're going. And we'll probably be staying at a hotel. And." Joyce paused.  
  
"Buffy?" she asked.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Do you think that you can get your friends to take over the slaying for the wedding?"  
  
"I don't think that'll be a problem." Buffy smiled. She had a number of problems- she couldn't keep a boyfriend, there was a super powerful demon on the loose, but this, at least, she could probably handle.  
  
* * * * * * * * *  
  
"Married?" Giles asked her. The Scoobies were gathered in the Magic Box. Giles and Anya were working, Xander was off that day, and Willow and Tara were researching a spell. Buffy felt lucky to get them all at once.  
  
"Yeah. In New York. Can I go?" Buffy was beginning to feel a little nervous. Granted, she was only asking for a few days off, but a very big bad was still in town even as she was asking. Buffy still didn't know what Glory was, but one thing was for sure- she was at least as strong as Buffy, and incredibly more durable. On the other hand, with Dawn in New York as well, there was no chance that Glory would find the Key. However, she could always go after one of the Scoobies. She couldn't live with herself if anything happened to her friends.  
  
"No, never mind. It's a bad idea right now-"  
  
"Go."  
  
"Huh? What?"  
  
"I want you to go, Buffy."  
  
"We all do, Buff," Xander added.  
  
Buffy felt a great bout of disbelief. Her friends, experienced Sunnydale citizens all, were going to let her leave town, even though it was very possible that Glory would still be a problem?  
  
"But." she tried to argue.  
  
"No buts!" Xander was firm. "You've been going through a lot lately, Buff. A big fancy wedding is what you need to go back to all-fun Buffy, even if it's just for a little while. We can handle the slaying! I bet all the demons are just cringing right now, and I say-" Xander pumped an imaginary stake, "shake, demons, shake!"  
  
"Yeah!" Willow chimed in. "We got nine. well, six, out of every ten vampires that summer." All went quiet for a brief moment. 'That summer,' when Buffy skipped town, wasn't brought up much by the Scoobies. "Anyway, a big springtime wedding, at a nice mansion in New York and all, sounds kinda romantic." Willow was wearing a big grin  
  
"And, New York is supposed to be pretty nice. In the spring. So I've heard," Tara added. Buffy smiled at the blond witch. Tara had come a long way from the painfully shy young woman that she first met.  
  
"Yeah! We got you covered!" Anya exclaimed, a little too joyfully. Everyone looked at her.  
  
"Ahn," Xander began, "are you saying that you want to go out patrolling while Buffy's in New York."  
  
"No!" she replied, a little forcefully. "Well, Buffy's going to one of the big shopping capitals of the world, where she'll have fun and buy us expensive presents. And you're going to go out on patrol. You get all hot and sweaty when you patrol, and all the adrenaline you build up is great for multi-orgasmic sex!"  
  
"Right," Buffy said when she found her voice again. "But what about Glory?"  
  
"No biggie," Willow responded. "If we see her, we'll run. And if we can't, well-"she looked at Tara, who nodded, "Tara and I've been working on a spell that might get her away. I'd tell you more, but we haven't worked all the kinks out yet."  
  
"It might not work," Tara said quietly. "It's a dangerous spell, even at the best of times. Only the most powerful spell casters use it at all."  
  
"Well, there's nothing that the two of you can't do," Xander quickly put in, changing the mood.  
  
"Buffy, don't worry about us. I'm sure that we can handle whatever happens if you're only gone for a few days," Giles said, with his 'discussion closed' tone in full use.  
  
"Yes, so go, have fun, and return with presents!" Anya enthusiastically concluded.  
  
* * * * * * * * *  
  
Later, Buffy trained with Giles for a while, and went home to be with Joyce. On her way home, she found a note in her coat. It read: "Don't worry about them. I'll keep them safe- we should know more about her by then. I want you to have fun in New York. You more than deserve it." The note was unsigned, but Buffy knew who it was from- Giles. It was a little vague, just in case it was found by someone, but Buffy knew who the 'her' was.  
  
"I hope so," Buffy said to herself. She had never faced an enemy like Glory before. The Master, Spike, Drusilla, Angel, Faith, the Mayor, even Adam- none of them were as powerful as Glory seemed to be. She had once seriously considered asking Willow, Xander and Giles to undergo the 'joining' ritual with her, but she finally decided that the 'Super-Slayer" would only be used as a last resort. For all Buffy knew, Glory had some weakness to Glory that they didn't know about yet. And, if Glory could kill the 'Super- Slayer' they would all be dead, and who would protect Dawn then?  
  
Buffy shook her head. "All this for a wedding," she muttered to herself.  
  
"Who's getting married?" a familiar Cockney voice came from behind her. Buffy sighed as she turned around to face it. But then a thought came to her- it was a little desperate, but then again, Spike had always liked a good fight.  
  
"My cousin is, Spike."  
  
"Oh?" the bleached British vamp asked her, as he approached.  
  
"Yes," Buffy responded, as she steeled herself. "And I'd like to ask you a favour."  
  
"Really?" he said. Buffy expected Spike to sound amused and scornful, as he usually did, but he sounded. speculative somehow.  
  
"Yeah. Look. my cousin lives in New York, and he's getting married in April, and."  
  
"You want me to be your date?"  
  
"NO!" Buffy couldn't believe what she just heard.  
  
"Oh. Good! I mean, I hate you, Slayer, and your little crew too." It had to just be Buffy's imagination, but he actually sounded. almost disappointed.  
  
"The feeling is mutual. Look- I need you to help my friends cover for me."  
  
"Oh, I get it. You're worried about that Glory wench."  
  
"Hole in one. What'll it cost me?"  
  
"Cost? Nothing." Noting that Buffy's eyes were starting to bug out in shock, he quickly added, "Remember what I told you when I helped you stop Angel? I still like this world the way it is, even if I'm not the big bad anymore. I don't want her getting her hands on this 'Key' or whatever it is, opening the Hellmouth, and ruining my fun. Besides- it's not like she can help me get this sodding chip out like old FrankenDemon could, now is it?"  
  
"I guess not." Buffy felt suspicious. Everything that he said was absolutely true, but on the other hand, this was SPIKE. Come to think of it, he had been acting a little peculiarly lately. Even for him. Maybe the chip was driving him nuts.  
  
"Don't mention it." And with that, he left. Buffy watched him for a while, shrugged, and continued on her way home.  
  
"Yup," she said to herself. "That chip's definitely driving him nuts."  
  
* * * * * * * * *  
  
"They said I could go," Buffy greeted her mother as she closed the front door.  
  
"Great," Joyce replied, and went to the phone, looking for the phone number of the Xavier Institute.  
  
"Are you sure you should be using the phone, mom?" Buffy asked, worriedly, remembering what the doctor asked her about power lines.  
  
"I'm fine, Buffy," Joyce replied, and went back to looking for the number.  
  
"Isn't it like, three hours ahead in New York?" Dawn asked.  
  
"Yes, but it'll only be-"she glanced at her watch, "almost ten-thirty. That's not late. I hope." Joyce found the number, and started to dial.  
  
* * * * * * * * *  
  
At the Xavier Institute, among both students and faculty, Movie Night was a particular favourite. They happened every Friday, barring evil mutant activity. The movie selection process was democratic- a number of movies were put forth for selection, and were voted on by all concerned. Tonight, the students received a special treat- a Double Feature, as a reward for the hard work that they had been doing. With the help of some closet Mike Myers fans among the faculty, the students had managed to pull an upset victory, and got to watch the Austin Powers movies back to back.  
  
Sam Guthrie was taking advantage of the brief intermission in the movies to use the washroom. As he performed his duties, he reflected on the various ways that his teammates and friends reacted to the first movie. Roberto was laughing his head off, as was Doug. Warlock failed to get a lot of the pop- culture references. Amara got the movie, but found it a little 'lowbrow.' She just didn't appreciate a parody of James Bond movies. Dani laughed a lot, as well as Illyana, although they both tried to hide it. And Rahne laughed as much as 'Berto and Doug, even though she much preferred the portrayal of Scotsmen in "So I Married an Axe Murderer," with the 'Scottish Wall of Fame' and all, to Fat Bastard in "The Spy Who Shagged Me." As for Sam, he blushed during the first Austin Powers movie the first time he saw it, but it quickly grew on him.  
  
On his way back to the Rec Room, he heard the phone in the den ring through the open door. He quickly got it, just in case no one in the Rec Room heard it.  
  
"Hello?" he asked.  
  
"Hello?" came a voice on the other end. It was a lady's voice.  
  
"Hello?" he asked again. It was all he could do, after all.  
  
"Hello? Oh, I'm sorry. Is this the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters?"  
  
"Yes, it is, ma'am." Sam began to get a little suspicious. Not many people called the Institute without being sure of the number.  
  
"Oh, good," the lady said, sounding relieved. "For a moment there, I thought I had the wrong number. Is Scott Summers there?"  
  
"Yes he is, ma'am. Would you like me to take the phone to him? It's one of these cordless types."  
  
"Oh yes, please. If it's not too much trouble."  
  
"It would mah pleasure, ma'am."  
  
Sam quickly went back to the Rec Room. Judging by the sight of Austin dancing naked through the hotel, Sam guessed that his 'friends' had started the movie without him.  
  
"Excuse me, ma'am," he said to the lady, "but who may ah ask is calling?"  
  
"Oh. I'm Scott's aunt Joyce from Sunnydale. It's about the wedding."  
  
"Thank you, ma'am. One moment please."  
  
"Of course."  
  
Sam loudly knocked on the rooms open doorpost. All eyes turned to him.  
  
"Scott," he said, "Ah've got a call for you. It's your Aunt Joyce from Sunnydale. It's about the wedding."  
  
"Thanks, Sam," Scott said as he got up. Jean followed him. Sam hid a grin as he passed the phone to Scott. Those two were trying to keep all of the little romantic type things private, and were failing miserably. Then he blushed and looked away as Jean gave him an amused look. Sam decided to turn his thoughts to more important matters.  
  
"Professor," he asked, turning on the ol' Guthrie charm, "Ah know you've got a rule about how we're supposed to be quick during movie breaks, but Ah was getting' the phone for Scott, and Ah was wonderin'."  
  
"Yes, Sam," the Professor replied, half resigned, half amused, "We can rewind the tape."  
  
Sam grinned. "Thanks, Professor!"  
  
The rest of the students said "Awww!"  
  
* * * * * * * * *  
  
Scott closed the door, just in time to block out the "Awww!" He turned to Jean, who gave him a smile of encouragement, and spoke into the phone.  
  
"Aunt Joyce?" he hoped that he didn't sound too nervous.  
  
"Scott!" came the familiar voice of his aunt. She sounded the same as she did the last time he called her, which was. far too long ago. "How are you?"  
  
"Oh, you know, busy, what with teaching, and starting wedding preparations."  
  
"Starting early, hmmm?"  
  
"Oh yes," Scott chuckled. "I'm only getting married once, and I want it to be perfect."  
  
"Your Jean's already getting you trained?"  
  
Yes she is." Scott suddenly felt a smack to his head. He looked at his fiancée, who had an innocent expression on her face. "So how are you, Aunt Joyce? Are you feeling better?"  
  
"Much better. I'm not perfect yet, but I'm getting stronger. I'm even thinking of going back to work soon."  
  
"Don't push yourself."  
  
"I won't Scott. I've got Buffy and Dawn here to stop me."  
  
"Good. I think I can trust them."  
  
"You can count on it."  
  
Scott was silent for a moment. "I'm sorry I couldn't be there, Aunt Joyce."  
  
"That's alright, Scott. You've got teaching duties. I understand that. I know what it's like to have a. to have family that has heavy duties that keep them away from family."  
  
"That's no excuse. I should have come out." Scott mentally cursed himself. While his Aunt Joyce was going through a dangerous operation, there he was, fighting the Sentinels. Again. Jean put a hand on his shoulder. He felt her voice in his mind: *It's not your fault.*  
  
"It's alright, Scott," his aunt told him, in what Buffy described as her 'no more argument' voice. "I wanted to talk to you about the wedding. I'm sorry, Scott, but."  
  
Scott's shoulders slumped. After not being able to be there for her after her operation, he wasn't really surprised at this, but he was disappointed. Jean embraced him from behind.  
  
"But do you think you could recommend a good hotel for Buffy, Dawn, and I?"  
  
Scott perked up. "What?" he asked.  
  
"Do you know any good, cheap hotels near your school?"  
  
"Oh, well." Scott suddenly felt Jean's voice again. *Let me talk to her, Scott.*  
  
"Oh, Aunt Joyce, Jean would like to talk to you."  
  
"And I'd love to talk to her. Put her on. But I want to talk to you again, afterwards."  
  
He handed the phone to Jean.  
  
"Mrs. Summers, this is Jean Grey," she said. Jean was a little nervous herself. She had met all of Scott's- admittedly small- family, except for the Sunnydale branch.  
  
"Please Ms. Grey, call me Joyce, we're practically family," came a warm sounding voice on the other end of the phone. Jean felt a bit more at ease. Scott's Aunt Joyce sounded a little bit like her mother.  
  
"Only if you call me Jean."  
  
"Done. It's good to finally meet you, Jean."  
  
"Likewise. Scott's told me all about his visits out to California, and about you and Buffy and Dawn."  
  
"Oh. he's told us about you, too," Joyce replied in a tone that said that he hadn't really.  
  
"Good to hear it. You know how difficult it is to get anything out of Scott."  
  
"Oh yes," Joyce replied fervently. "You have to hang him upside down and set him on fire to get anything out him"  
  
"Uh-huh. And that's just to get him to tell you his name."  
  
Joyce laughed. "He's a lot like Buffy used to be," she said in a tone that told her that she wasn't the only person that was meant to hear that.  
  
"I'll take your word for it. Look, about where you're going to be staying. It's going to be here. At the school."  
  
"I couldn't-"Joyce began, just as Jean felt Scott get a little nervous.  
  
"Ah! We insist. You're family, and we're not putting you out into some hotel, when we can put you up for free here. I've already spoken to the Professor about it. He said that any family of Scott's is family of his. My parents and my niece and nephew are staying here, and you, Buffy and Dawn, and Scott's uncle Hank are as well, along with a few of the other guests. It's all settled."  
  
"Oh," was all Joyce could say. "Well, I know that Dawn would love to stay in a nice mansion, and Buffy would as well."  
  
"Perfect! Then it's all been settled!"  
  
"Great."  
  
Jean was silent for a moment. "It was lovely meeting you, Joyce, and I can't wait to meet you face to face."  
  
"The pleasure was mine, Jean. You make Scott very happy."  
  
"Joyce, I couldn't possibly do better than Scott. He's." she paused, and looked directly at the man in question. "He's perfect in every way. He's all that I could possibly want. All that I've ever wanted." She felt a wave of love surge through her. It was from Scott, and she returned it.  
  
"I'm very glad to hear that, Jean. Goodbye."  
  
"Goodbye, Joyce." Jean handed the phone to Scott.  
  
"Scott, she's lovely," Joyce said, before he could even say anything.  
  
"Don't I know it."  
  
They talked for a while longer, and then said their goodbyes. Scott and Jean returned to the movie. Austin was just starting to admire his frozen self back in 1967. They basked in the glow of their mutual love, and in an obvious manner, given the number of grins, covert and not-so-covert, that were being sent their way.  
  
Scott smiled as he sat back into his seat. He couldn't remember ever being happier. After all of the trouble, after all of the crap in his life, he was finally reunited with his family. All of them, from his brother, his father and his extended family to the X-Men. and Jean. Always Jean. He couldn't wait to introduce his aunt and his cousins to Jean. They'd love her for sure!  
  
Little did he know at that time that the next time that he would hear from Sunnydale, it would two weeks before his wedding. He didn't know that it would be Buffy, calling to tell him that his aunt was dead. 


	2. Requiem for the Dead

Slayers and Mutants and Keys- Oh My!

by Wizard

Author's Note: the characters in this fanfic do not belong to me. They are the property of Mutant Enemy (Buffy and Co.), and Marvel Comics (X-Men/ New Mutants). 

Buffy-wise: This story occurs during Buffy S5. The prologue is post "Triangle" but pre "Checkpoint", and the rest is post "The Body." May veer off into AU- in fact, it probably will. 

Marvel-wise: Everything up to Uncanny X-Men #137 is canon. In this work, the Phoenix Entity left Jean after the battle in Uncanny X-Men #138. Also, this verse has been updated to 2000- well, this part of the timeline... you know what I mean. Also, the only other X- team at this time is the New Mutants. X-Men and the New Mutants- that's it.

Chapter One: Requiem for the Dead.

Salem Centre, NY. April 12, 2001

April was shaping up to be very sunny. In fact, it looked like it was going to be sunnier than it had been in years. It boded well for the big event. Of course, weather was not a problem when one was a weather witch, but Ororo Munroe far preferred to let nature take her course. Of course, that did not mean that she was about to have her best friends get married on a rainy day. She didn't mind the rain, but it put a bit of a dampener on things like outdoor weddings. A pun. Oh Goddess, she was spending too much time around Bobby. Ororo put all thoughts of jokes out of her mind and bent her energies to more pleasant thoughts. Let's see- she'd had her workout in the Danger Room, she'd watered her plants, and the students were Scott's for the day, so barring any sudden X-Men duties, that was it for the day. One of her light days. 

"Hmm" she said to herself, "perhaps now is my opportunity to go into the city and see if my wedding present has arrived yet." It was difficult keeping a secret from a telepath. Thank the Goddess that the Professor was around to help with that sort of thing. In two weeks the need would be gone. Of course, very soon life in the mansion would be getting unusually hectic. Well, unusually hectic for an event that didn't involve a great deal of violence. She got her jacket, and headed out into the lobby. 

She was shook out of her reverie by the ringing of the telephone. She quickly answered it.

"Hello, this is the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters. How may I help you?"

"This is Professor Xavier's?" The voice on the other end was a young woman. One that sounded troubled.

"Yes it is. How may I help you?"

"Is-is Scott Summers there?"

"Yes he is, but he's on a field trip to an art gallery in the city with our students just now. May I take a message?"

"Oh, I see. Is- is Jean Grey there?"

"I am afraid that she's on the field trip as well."

"Oh, they're both on a field trip" There was a silence on the other end of the phone, but she could hear speaking in the background. Then came the sound of the phone being handed over.

"Hello?" came another voice. This voice was older, male, and British.

"Yes," Ororo answered, "I'm here."

"Is there any way that we can reach Scott? It is very important."

"Well, I believe that he has his cell phone with him, but knowing Scott, he'd have it turned off in a place like an art gallery."

"Damn!" the voice cursed, quietly but emphatically.

"I could take a message, sir." Ororo wasn't psychic, but she didn't have to be to know that something was very wrong here. Let's see- Ororo thought about everything that she knew about Scott's family and friends, and decided to make a shot in the dark.

"Are you calling from Sunnydale?"

"What? How did- yes actually, I am. How did you know?"

"I took a guess. I take it that his aunt Joyce has taken a turn for the worse."

"You might say that. She died yesterday."

"Oh, goddess," Ororo breathed. She knew how Scott loved his aunt, and how exited Jean was to finally meet her. How was she going to tell them? "I am so, so very sorry."

"Thank you."

"Then I take it that the young lady that I spoke to was Buffy?"

"Yes, it was."

"I'll get in contact with Scott as quickly as I can."

"Thank you."

"No, sir. In a situation like this, it is the very least that I can do. Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

Ororo hung up the phone, and closed her eyes. She tried not to remember her own mother's death. 

// Rocks, lots of them, falling down on the two survivors of the plane crash. It was so hard to breathe. So hard, and the rocks were all around and it was dark and oh goddess I'll never do anything bad ever again just gets these rocks off just get these rocks off just get us out this dark scary place just get me to my daddy what's wrong with you mommy why can't you talk to me mommy oh goddess oh goddess ohgoddessohgoddessohgoddess-//

"Ororo!"

She opened her eyes to see the concerned face of Charles Xavier staring up at her.

"Professor, I'm sorry, I was remembering-"

"I know, Ororo. I felt it."

"Sir, I just got a telephone call from Sunnydale." She didn't finish. Judging by the Professor's face, she didn't have to. He apparently picked up the cause of her flashback when she started to tell him. 

Professor Xavier sighed and hung his head for a moment. Ororo had rarely seen him look so old. 

"I'm going to contact Scott right now, Ororo." Her beloved leader had seldom sounded more tired than he did at that moment.

"Yes, Professor."

Xavier closed his eyes.

*Scott*

*Professor?* came Scott's voice through their bond.

*I have terrible news for you, Scott.* In another part of his mind, he felt Jean gasp. That Jean should pick up on his thoughts was no surprise- the bonds between the professor and his first student ran very deep indeed.

*Jean? Sir? What is it?* Scott was suddenly uneasy. He apparently sensed Jean's reaction, if not the cause, so he knew that something was wrong.

*I'm sorry Scott. Your aunt Joyce is dead.*

*NO!*

*I'm afraid so, Scott.*

*What? But she was getting better- how did this happen?*

*I don't know Scott. When you return, you must call your cousins.*  
  


*Yes. Of course. Thank you, Professor.* Xavier could feel the pain of Scott's grief wash over him, and Jean's attempts to comfort him before he could leave contact with Scott's mind.

Charles Xavier sighed. Having to relate news of a death was one of the worst parts of any teacher's duty, and this time was no exception, especially because of the happiness that Scott was finally feeling.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

A couple of hours later, the students, plus Scott and Jean, returned. The New Mutants, plus Kitty Pryde of the X-Men, were unusually quiet and sombre. Scott's tension and sorrow were obvious, even if they hadn't been told the reason. The Professor and the rest of the X-Men were waiting for the party in the lobby. They all appeared sombre.

"Professor-" he began.

"Please, use the phone in my office."

"Thank you. Does Alex know?"

"I contacted him just as he was being told. He and Lorna have already left for Sunnydale."

"Oh. Good."

"And Scott? I'm so sorry."

"Thank you Professor." Scott headed off in the direction of the office, followed by Jean. The other X-Men, minus Kitty, followed. Each of them gave Scott their condolences. This left Xavier alone with the students. 

Danielle Moonstar stepped forward.

"May I ask what happened, Professor," she asked, obviously not wanting to pry, but also needing to know what happened that would so affect the usually unflappable Scott.

"Scott's aunt died yesterday."

There was a small gasp from each student.

"But Scott said that his aunt was getting better!" Kitty, the youngest X-Man, exclaimed.

"I know, Kitty, but I suppose there were complications. We should know what happened when Scott returns."

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

When Scott and Jean reached the office, they closed the door for privacy. Scott appreciated his friends' condolences, but some things needed to be done in private. Everyone understood that.

Scott picked up the phone, and looked down to dial. For a wild moment, Scott forgot the number, but then he saw it, written down on a piece of paper beside the phone. He shared a look with Jean. Charles Xavier knew his X-Men so very well, bless him.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Sunnydale, CA.

The phone rang in the house of mourning. All in all, Rupert Giles concluded, a telephone's ring was possibly the most unwelcome sound in existence. He answered it, and hoped that it was Buffy's cousin. If it was some salesman or some bloody thing, Giles would give that person what for.

"Hello?" he asked the person.

"Oh, I'm sorry; I think that I have the wrong number." The voice on the other end belonged to a young American male.

"Not if this is Scott," Giles quickly replied before the young man could hang up.

"This is Scott. Who is this?" the voice now sounded vaguely suspicious, obviously over what a middle aged voice would be doing answering the Summers' phone.

"My name is Rupert Giles. I'm a friend of the family."

"Oh, I see."

"Would you like to talk to Buffy?"

"Oh yes, please."

Giles looked up, and signalled Buffy, who was watching him. He handed her the phone. 

"Scott?" she asked.

"Buffy?" came the reply.

"Oh, Scott, I'm sorry that I have to tell you, but Mom's dead," was all Buffy could manage before she started to cry.

"Oh, Buffy," her cousin said from the other side of the phone, "I'm so, so sorry." He sounded like he was about to cry himself.

"I know, I know, thank you." Buffy was starting to slow her sobbing down, at least to the point where she was coherent.

"If there's anything I can do for you-" 

"The funeral's in a couple days. Come out here. Please." 

"Done," he said without any hesitation.

"And if you can, please bring Jean. I'd like to meet her before the wedding. Don't worry, I have room."

"Oh." Scott was silent for a moment. When he continued, he said, "Look, about the wedding- Jean and I are going to postpone it."

"WHAT!" Buffy exclaimed. That brought everyone in the house- all the Scoobies- to her side.

"Uh, Buffy-" Scott's voice came from the other end of the line. That was clearly not the reaction that he expected.

"Look, Scott. Mom wanted to see the two of you get married. And I want it too. If you feel that you have to postpone because of this, then fine, it's your wedding. But don't let it be because of Dawn and I."

"Buffy-"

"Please Scott! We couldn't stand it!" Buffy started to cry again.

"We'll talk about it after the funeral. Okay?"

"Okay."

"If you want, we'll be on the next flight to L.A."

"Please. And before you say anything, you're staying here." 

"I wouldn't want to intrude-"

"It's not intruding. You're family. Besides, I already went through this argument with Alex and Lorna." 

"Then I guess we're staying there." Scott's voice went silent. "I know that there's a nightly flight to L.A., so if there's any room on it, I guess I should be getting ready to be on it."

"Yeah."

"Okay. I'll see you soon, Buffy."

"Okay. Oh! Can you phone me when you arrive so I can pick you two up?"

"No need. We'll take a cab." Silence again. "'Bye, Buffy."

"Bye Scott. It was good hearing from you again. I just wish-" Buffy stopped, feeling so very frustrated.

"I know. Me too, Buff. Bye."

"Bye."

Buffy hung up the phone, and turned to her friends.

"I think they'll be here in a few hours. Depending on if they get a flight tonight or tomorrow."

"Buffy, about the wedding," Giles hesitantly began.

"I want it to go on. I think Mom would too."

"Yeah she would!" Dawn added. The youngest Summers went silent for a moment. "Mom wouldn't want the wedding to be postponed because of her. She couldn't stand it. Neither can I..." Dawn began to cry. Again. Buffy held her.

"Uh, Buffy, what about Angel, Cordy and Wes?" Willow asked over Dawn's crying. "They're coming out here too, remember. I don't think your house can hold them and your cousins and their girlfriends, and I think that all of Angel's old places have been occupied by now."

"Oh. Ummm-" Buffy thought for a moment. "Angel can stay here. I'll give my bed up, and sleep on the couch- no, on a cot in the living room. Angel, Cordy and Wes can take the basement, Scott and Jean can take Mom's room, and I can try to fit Alex and Lorna into mine."

"Will everyone fit?" Xander looked dubious.

"It will. Don't worry Xand." Buffy gave a slightly strained smile. "If it doesn't, would you and Anya mind taking Cordy?"

Everyone laughed at that. Xander and Cordelia had buried the hatchet by the time that she went to L.A., but their relationship was still in many ways unresolved, and having Cordelia stay under the same roof as Xander, her ex, and Anya, the now ex-Vengeance Demon that Cordelia inadvertently summoned to take revenge upon Xander, made for an interesting- and potentially explosive- situation.

Tara discretely pulled Giles aside.

"When do you think she's gonna fall apart? She has to, you know," she quietly asked.

"I know. And I suspect that whenever it is, I suspect that it's not going to be soon."

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Salem Centre, N.Y.

Scott hung the phone up. He looked at Jean.

"Well," Jean said, "I guess we better start packing."

They left the office. Jean went to start the packing, and Scott went to find the Professor. He, along with the others, was just sitting down to dinner.

"Professor," he asked when he found his mentor, "Jean and I'd like to ask for a couple days off. Starting now, if that's okay."

"Of course," Xavier answered. He gave Scott a look. "You have a very selfless cousin, you know."

"You monitored the conversation?" Scott couldn't believe it.

"Not of my own free will." Xavier smiled. "You do have a tendency to psychically shout when you're surprised."

"I'll work on that."

"Do that. Oh, I called the airline- there are seats available for a flight to Los Angeles with a connector to Sunnydale leaving tonight. Would you like me to book you two seats while you get packed?"

"Please."

"Consider it done."

"Thank you." Scott turned to leave.

"Look, Cyke," Scott turned back around when he heard Logan's voice. "I'm sorry. About yer aunt. We all are."

Scott gave his sometime rival a smile. "I appreciate that, Logan." Addressing the others, he said, "Well, I better get packing," and left.

"How very tragic," Peter Rasputin said after Scott left the room.

"Ja," Kurt Wagner agreed. "And just when he was getting so very excited about the wedding."

"Those poor girls," was all that Rogue could say. "Ah bet they were gettin' ready for it themselves when this happened. Those poor girls."

"You may have a chance to tell them that yourself, Rogue," Xavier said. "I believe that the wedding will be going ahead as scheduled. Young Miss Summers was, ah, quite emphatic about that."

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Sunnydale C.A.

It was about 8:45 when Scott and Jean arrived at the Summers house. They paid the cabbie, and looked out at it before they went to the door. It was a nice looking place, very homey- and radiating sorrow. It was so powerful that Scott could feel it through his rapport with Jean. 

*Alex and Lorna are here* she told him as they approached the door.

*Good* was all he could say.

*Would you like a moment?*

*No. I want to do this now. I don't think I could, if I waited.*

Jean took his hand and squeezed it, not even needing to express her confidence in his strength. Scott rang the doorbell. It was answered by a pale young woman about a foot shorter than Scott.

"Scott?" she asked him.

"Hi Buf-" was all Scott could manage before she proceeded to give him a hug so strong that it would have done the Beast proud.

"I'm so glad to see you," she whispered.

"Likewise," he said. Or rather, he tried to. Buffy got the hint and let him go.

"And this must be Jean," Buffy said, turning to his fiancée. She hugged Jean, not waiting for an answer.

*She IS strong!* Jean mentally exclaimed. Buffy quickly let her go. 

"It's great to finally meet you. I just wish-" Buffy didn't finish the sentence. 

"I know." Jean smiled at Buffy. "I also know that we'll be friends."

"Not just friends," Buffy managed. "Family. Won't you come in? Oh, let me get those." Buffy picked up their suitcases and entered the house, and Scott and Jean followed. Buffy set the suitcases down by the foot of the stairs, and beckoned the couple to follow her into what had to be the living room. There were a lot of people in the living room, strangers mostly, except for Alex, Lorna, and a young woman running at him that could only be-

"Dawn!" he exclaimed as she embraced him- just about tackled him, actually. She almost knocked his glasses off! At least she wasn't eating her spinach, like Buffy apparently was. 

"Oh Scotty, I'm so glad you're here," she babbled. Well, she babbled other things as well, but that's all he understood. She finally let go of him, and hugged Jean. 

"You must be Jean! I'm so glad I finally met you! You're even prettier than you were in your engagement picture! Thank you for coming!" Dawn exclaimed. Either she was slowing down, or Scott was suddenly able to understand HyperTeenagedGirlese.

Alex came over to him. The brothers simply hugged.

"Not too hard," Scott whispered.

"I know," Alex whispered back. "She hugs like Hank. Talk later." The two broke up the embrace.

Scott turned to hug Lorna as Scott went to Jean. 

"Could Buffy be a mutant?" Lorna whispered. "She hugs like Hank and earlier I saw her lift something really heavy like it weighed nothing."

"Possibly. We know it runs in the family." They broke off their embrace as Jean and Lorna hugged. Finally, they all looked at the others in the room, who were watching them. Buffy began the introductions.

"Guys, this is my cousin Scott Summers, and his fiancée Jean Grey. Scott, Jean, these are my friends." Buffy started to point them all out. 

"Over there's Xander Harris and Anya Jenkins," she pointed to a dark haired young man and a young blond woman standing together in a corner. They waved.

"On the couch is Willow Rosenberg-" a cute redhead, "Tara Maclay-" a shy looking young blond, "and Cordelia Chase," and attractive brunette. All three waved and said "Hey."

"And standing over there is Rupert Giles," a tall man with slightly greying hair and glasses, "Wesley Wyndham-Pryce," a man in his early thirties with black hair and glasses, "and that's Angel," a tall young man who didn't look all that much older than 18, unless you looked at his eyes, which seemed far far older. They responded with a nod or wave.

"Well, Buffy said finally, that's everyone."

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

The gathering lasted into the night. It was a bit like a wake. When it broke up, the Sunnydale people went to their homes, Buffy's L.A. guests repaired to the basement, and the Summers', minus Buffy, went to their rooms upstairs.

On the upper level of the Summers home, a four way conference was taking place from the separate rooms each couple took, thanks to Jean's telepathy.

*So what were you saying about Buffy lifting something heavy, Lorna?* Jean asked her green haired friend.

*Well, shortly after Alex and I got here, Buffy was getting her basement ready for her other guests. We went down there to help her, and I saw her moving a heavy looking chest from one side of the basement to the other. I don't think she saw us.*

*So she lifted a heavy looking chest.* Scott sent. *Why do you think she might be a mutant?*

*Scott, after she noticed us she asked us to help her out. We did, and when it came time for us to get the bedding, Alex stayed down for an extra moment and tried to lift the chest.*

*Scott, _I_ couldn't lift it* Alex sent, before Scott could say anything. *But Buffy was moving it around like it weighed nothing.*

*Do you know what was in it?* Scott asked.

*She didn't say, and I wasn't about to pry.*

*Are you sure you're not overreacting?*

*You felt her hug you, Scott. What do you think?* Lorna sent before Alex could say anything and possibly start an argument.

*It's certainly possible, Scott,* Jean added. *Mutation runs in the family.*

*Yes, but usually the powers are related. Alex and I absorb and convert solar energy into other forms of energy.*

*And Banshee and Siryn are both sonic-screamers, and Black Tom has that energy blasting power,* Alex added, conceding his brother's point.

*It's just a rule, but there are exceptions.* Jean put in. *What about Peter and Illyana? Being able to turn yourself into organic steel and being able to teleport aren't exactly my idea of related powers.*

*Don't forget Magneto and his children* Lorna added. *His magnetism, Quicksilver's superspeed and the Scarlet Witch's power to affect chance aren't exactly related either.* That was an example that none of the others would have brought up, because Lorna thought that she was Magneto's daughter for a time, due to her own magnetic powers.

*I don't know.* Alex sent slowly. * I think that she's probably a mutant, but I thought that the Prof was monitoring all of our families, checking for mutants. I don't think that he'd miss a strongwoman, for years, no less, and pick up on someone like that Ramsey kid you've got at the school, even if the boy was living right in your backyard.* Doug Ramsey, aka Cypher, had the mutant power of languages. He could quickly understand any language or code that he encountered. He lived in town of Salem Centre, not far from the mansion, when he was discovered.

*I say we should watch her, just in case* Lorna concluded.

*I agree* Alex said. As if there was any doubt.

*So do I* Scott added. *Jean?*

*Oh. Uh, yes. We should watch her.*

*Something wrong, Jean?* Scott felt concerned.

*Well- this is going to sound crazy.*

*What is it?* asked Alex.

*Ever since I've gotten to Sunnydale, my powers have been acting strangely.*

*What do you mean? You're using them now, and everything's okay.*

*That's why I wasn't going to say anything. With you three, everything's normal, but not with anyone else.*

*It's like some kind of energy is affecting them, isn't it?* Lorna enquired.

*Yes! That's it! Ordinarily, even when I try not to, I receive little snippets of peoples' thoughts, but ever since I got here, all I get is static. I can hear words, but I can't make them out. How did you know?*

*I've been feeling odd since I got here, too. On edge. There's some kind of energy permeating this town, and for the most part, I don't like it.*

*What do you mean?* a concerned Alex asked his love.

*Most of the time, it's like I feel, I don't know, dirty. But since I've gotten into this house, I feel, I guess you'd say, clean. It's the same type on energy, I know that for sure, but there seem to be at least two different forms of it. It's driving me wild, that's all I know. But it doesn't affect my powers at all. I checked- I think I bent every spoon in this house into and out of shape.*

*What about you Jean?* Scott asked, a little concerned himself. *What do you feel?*

*I don't feel clean or dirty, but I think I can tell what this energy does to my powers- it blocks them somehow. I don't know why they're not affected where you're all concerned. Maybe it's because we're from out of town, or maybe it's because I have an established tie to all of you. Maybe both.*

*What do other people feel like?* Lorna asked her.

*Well, it's like their thoughts are- staticky, and the effects of this energy aren't consistent. In this house alone, I could sort of read some people, but others not at all.*

*Which ones?* Alex this time.

*I can pick up some kind of thoughts from Buffy and Dawn, and from that Mr. Giles, and from Wesley, Tara, and Anya. I couldn't understand what they were thinking, but they were thinking. From Cordelia, Willow and Xander, all I got was static, and lot's of it. And from Angel, I couldn't get anything.*

*Couldn't get anything?* her friends asked her.

*Nothing at all. It was like he wasn't even there.*

Silence for a moment. And then:

*What do you think we should do?* Alex asked.

*We watch Buffy,* Scott concluded. *Jean, Lorna, try to get to the bottom of what this energy is.*

*Gotcha,* Lorna sent.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Meanwhile, downstairs, another meeting was going on.

On the porch, Buffy sat with Scoobies past and present. Angel had approached her during the gathering, and they planned a small meeting afterwards.

"So, Angel," Buffy began, "what's the problem?"

"Your cousins don't know that you're the Slayer, do they?"

"No. Why?"

"Because when Scott and Jean first got here, and Scott and Lorna were hugging, I heard Lorna ask Scott if you might be a mutant."

"What?" That question was asked by more than just Buffy.

"I heard them whispering. Vampires have really good hearing, remember?"

"No," Giles said firmly, "She's the Slayer, not a mutant."

"Although it is possible that the Slayer does have qualities similar to a mutant," Wes said, and all eyes turned to him. "Well, a couple of years before I was fired, there was a conference held on how the Watchers would deal with mutants. The Watchers noted a number of similarities between the two, including manifestation occurring at or shortly after puberty. The major difference is that the Slayer's powers are supernatural, and mutant abilities come from their genetics." 

"When was this?" Giles asked. "Oh, never mind. Just what did they- we, decide." Giles had a history of being snubbed by the Council of Watchers, even before he was fired and later forcibly reinstated.

"We- they decided to treat mutants as they would treat demons-"

"You mean they'd kill them on sight?" Xander exclaimed. "That's nuts! Mutants are people too!"

"The Council doesn't kill all demons, Xander," Wes responded a little annoyed at being interrupted. "Some demons are neutral, or even good, as we all have cause to know."

"I know I'm sitting to an unliving example of that," Cordelia said, grinning at Angel. That brought a laugh from all present.

"Anyway, the Council decided to observe and monitor known mutants. And yes, kill them if necessary."

"Isn't that a little of the Council's field?" Tara asked. "I know they're creeps, but I thought they only dealt with the mystical."

"As a formerly 'ex-creep,' Tara, I'll tell you that the Watchers believe that they have jurisdiction over whatever they decide to have jurisdiction over," snarked Giles.

"Ooh, a bit of snark from the G-man," Xander smirked.

"He's right though." Wesley said firmly. "The thing is, they aren't exactly wrong most of the time. But come to think of it, that's a large part of the Council's problem."

"Forget the Council," Willow said, "but what are we going to do about this? If the Summers' are mutant haters, they might try take Dawn away from Buffy, or worse."

"I don't think there's much chance of that," Angel said. "You see-"

"And why do they think that I'm a mutant?" Buffy asked him.

"Well, Lorna said she saw you lift something really heavy on your own, and-"

"Heavy? I haven't been lifting anything really heavy all day!"

"Are you sure, Buffy?" Giles asked.

"Yes! Well, there was that one chest of Mom's in the basement. A normal person would think that it's really heavy. And come to think of it-" Buffy's eyes widened, "Alex and Lorna came down to help me get the basement ready right after that. They might have seen me. Oh, God!"  
  


"It's okay, Buffy," Willow said comfortingly. 

"We won't let them take Dawn away," Xander added.

"Like I've been trying to say," a frustrated Angel said, "I don't think that they hate mutants. When Lorna asked Scott if you were a mutant, he said, and I quote, 'Possibly. We know it runs in the family.'"

All were silent for a moment.

"So does this mean that your cousins are mutants? They don't have blue fur or anything." Anya said.

"Not all mutants appear inhuman, Anya," Wesley said.

"Yes," Giles agreed. "In fact, most of them appear fully human."

"Oh God," Buffy whispered, after a moment. "Giles, do you think that-"

"Buffy, I've managed to identify everything that you've killed. They've all been demonic, well, except for the robots."

"Thank God."

"Indeed."

"So what are you gonna do about them?" Anya asked.

"Well, it's not like I can just go up to them and ask them if they're mutants."

"Well, you can prove who you are. You can take them out to the Bronze, and pay Spike to lure something evil out for you to kill. Then you can tell them that you're the Slayer, you're the only one blah-blah-blah-, and that'll be that. And when they use their powers to help you out, you'll have leverage so you can drag the fact that their mutants right out of them."

"What if they're not mutants, though?" Willow asked. "And what about all of the innocent people that'll be at the Bronze?"

"It's a good plan, Anya," Xander said quickly, "but it's not exactly something that we can do."

"Events may well turn out much as Anya described," Wesley said. "This is the Hellmouth, after all. Anything can happen, and usually does."

"We should have a plan," Giles added.

"This is ridiculous!" Buffy exclaimed. "Mo matter what they may be or what I am, they're my family, and that's all that matters!"

"I realize that Buffy," Giles said calmly, "but what if we're right, and they start to dig?"

"If they pry, you might have to tell them that you're the Slayer, Buffy," Angel put in. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, and in a place like Sunnydale, it won't be hard to prove- just take them out on patrol with you."

"And they might not even be mutants," Willow added. "I mean, all we know for sure is that you have mutant relatives. It might not be them."

"Well, I think that they're probably mutants." Xander muttered. "I mean, Buffy's got a very small family. And just look at Lorna's hair."

"That's peroxide Xander, not genetics," Cordelia told him, a trifle snidely.

"How do you know?"

"Well, for one thing, take a look at her hair. The dye job is good, and I can't believe that she dyed her eyebrows, but if you look closely, you can see the roots. Oh no, you can tell that's it been a while since her last trip to the stylist." Everyone gave her an amused look.

"What? You didn't look at Xander like that when Xander channelled Military-Guy. Why can't I bring out the Queen C if I don't start channelling Joan Collins? Too much, anyway."

"I missed you, Cordy," Buffy smiled.

The meeting broke up shortly after. Giles and Wesley talked for a while, Wes asking Giles to tell him again how Buffy humiliated Quentin Travers. Cordelia, Willow, Xander, Anya, and Tara were talking about Cordelia's visions, and Angel was standing off by himself. Buffy went over to him.

"Thank you for coming," she whispered.

"Anytime," her ex replied. "Joyce was one of the strongest women that I knew. Her daughters take after her a lot." He smiled at Buffy, and they hugged.

"I could stay for a while after the funeral, if you want me too," he told her. "As long as you need. Just say the word."

"Could you stay forever?" she whispered back. "'Cause that's how long I think I need you for. But you can't, and I can't ask you to. You're a Champion, and you have to save people now. I've got Sunnydale covered. It's lives that need saving here, not souls."

"There's room in L.A. for a Slayer. You'd make a great member of my team, but I can't ask you to either. A town on a Hellmouth needs a guardian. Lives need saving. Besides, I've royally pissed off a bunch of lawyers. More than once. They would take Dawn away from you if they thought it would get to me. I can't ask you to risk that."

They remained in their embrace for a while, Buffy thinking about Glory and how much help Angel could give her, Angel thinking about how even Wolfram & Hart might think twice about getting into it with a non-rogue Slayer that had an active Watcher. Buffy also thought about the night they made love. Her 17th birthday, which seemed an eternity ago. Angel thought about their one perfect day together. The day that only he would remember, the sacrifice that he had made to protect Buffy and the world. They finally broke apart, and looked into each others eyes. They knew that things could never be the way they were. Too much had happened to both of them for that to ever happen. But they also knew that they were bonded, soulmates, and come high water or Hell itself, either one would come to be with the other in a time of need. It wasn't much, but it was their fate, and at that one moment, it was enough.


	3. Requiem for the Dead pt 2

Chapter Two: Requiem for the Dead pt. 2

Sunnydale, CA.

The next day was difficult. Both parties, who had reunited early in the morning, were slightly on edge around each other, each for their own reasons. Amidst preparations for the funeral, which was to be held the next night, the X-Men were trying to feel out Buffy's opinions of mutants, and Buffy had cornered them into a discussion on what they thought of New Agars. 

Scott and co. were pleased at Buffy's opinions of mutants: "Mutants are people, and anyone that says they're not is a total moron. They don't ask for these powers. I mean, who in their right mind would? Can't those bigots understand what it's like to wake up one morning to find yourself being able to do stuff that no one else can do? Can't they understand what it is to live with that kind of secret, to go out with your friends and know that you're a threat to them, and that you know no matter how much you want one, you can never have a normal life again? Don't they get that it's frightening and confusing and that the only way that they can make their powers go away is to die?" Buffy seemed a little too knowledgeable about what it was like, which privately convinced the mutants that Buffy was indeed what the Professor called 'Gifted.'

Buffy was likewise happy about Scott's opinions on the supernatural: "We don't know what's out there. We don't know how the universe was created or where people go when they die or even if there's such a thing as a soul. For all we know, things like vampires and werewolves and demons really could be walking among us right now. Science can't explain everything, and I hope that it never does." 

Alex added: "Can you imagine how boring life would be if we all acted like Vulcans? Sure there's stuff we don't know. But, to quote on my favourite shows, 'The Truth is Out There,'" he dramatically quoted the X-Files.

Lorna said: "Our friend Hank McCoy, who's a scientist to the bone by the way, likes to quote Shakespeare. One of his favourites is, 'there are many things in heaven and earth, Horatio, that are not dreamt of in your philosophy.' He pulls it out whenever someone asks him about the supernatural. I don't know if I'd put it like that, but that's what I believe." 

"Magic exists," Jean said simply. "It may not be the type of thing that, say, turns people into toads, but it exists in the love that we feel for each other. In this world, where there's so much pain and sorrow, a person can look at perfect sunset, or at a rainbow, or a laughing child, and suddenly be hopeful for the future. No one's going to tell me that that's not magic."

Buffy smiled. They got the good side of magic, and were apparently able to deal with the unknown. But could they deal with vampires and werewolves and demons? Knowing how she herself did, and how all of her friends adjusted, Buffy guessed yes. 

The only person oblivious to all the 'feeling out' was Dawn. The Dawnmeister was torn up over the death of her mother, but she was also happy about having all of the people that she loved under one roof for the first time in both her actual and remembered lives. All but two, that is.

"No, Dawn, I can't get a hold of Dad," Buffy told her sister for the umpteenth time. Dawn was upset of Hank Summers' absence, and truth be told, Buffy was as well. But for Dawn's sake, Buffy held it in. 

As for Spike… well, even if it was daytime, there was no chance that he would be allowed into the house. Ever again. Dawn privately thought that that was stupid. Spike had proven himself to her, and to Joyce as well. In fact, Dawn knew that Spike was upset over Joyce not only for what her death was doing to her and Buffy, but for his own sake. Joyce was the only person related to the Scoobies, except for Dawn herself, and Tara, that treated Spike like a person. But he did creep Buffy out now that she knew that he was in love with her, and to be fair, he did try to kill Buffy, so she kept her mouth shut, difficult as that was.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

After a large and delicious lunch, made by all those in the house- except Angel, who claimed that he was feeling ill ("Yeah- he's allergic to sunlight," Dawn whispered to her),  Buffy took her family, Dawn included, for a viewing of Joyce's body.

The place that they had Joyce was - false. Oh, it was meant to be cheery, and Buffy could understand the reason. But for someone that had dealt with the reality of death for far too long, the cheer was not only false, but entirely unwarranted. Death was never happy, it was never pretty, it was just- death. That was it. Any attempts to dress it up not only failed to be a true comfort, but were really disrespecting of the gravity that death deserved, and by extension, of the life that the deceased had lived. Buffy really needed to stop thinking about such things.

She and Dawn had already said their final goodbyes to Joyce, so she let Scott, Alex, and Lorna and Jean go in to say theirs. Except the Summers sisters hadn't really said their final goodbyes. A goodbye was spoken to a person that could hear, understand, and hopefully respond, not some- some thing of inanimate flesh that resembled the woman who brought them into the world.

*    *    *    *    *     *    *    *    *

Scott entered the room first. Words could not express his desire to not be in that room, to be anywhere but there, to not have to be there at all. But there he was. He couldn't feel Jean in his mind. His love was obviously and very deliberately giving him privacy. He smiled through his sorrow. She knew him so very well.

He went over to get a better look at the body. She was dressed up nicely, at least. The morticians did an excellent job of making her look alive, as beautiful as ever, just sleeping deeply- oh god, he swore that he wouldn't cry so soon.

He knelt next to the body.

"Here I am, Aunt Joyce. It's me, your worthless nephew, Scott. Yes, I am worthless. I should have dropped everything and came to your side when you were sick. I should have taken care of you. But I didn't. Why, you might ask? Well, it's all because of a dream.

"I've told you about Charles Xavier. I may not have made my feelings about him perfectly clear, so I'll tell you now. I love Charles Xavier. He is the father that I haven't had since my dad died. Except dad didn't really die, although you probably know that by now. He was captured by aliens, and is now a semi-legitimate interstellar pirate, who is on good terms with the ruler of the empire he robs but not with her government. I know how crazy it sounds, but you know it's the truth. I've got to be the one to tell him that you're dead. It isn't a job I'm looking forward to. He always liked you, but you knew that even before you died." Scott stood up.

"I'm an X-Man, Aunt Joyce. I'm a mutant. I'm the greatest threat to ordinary humans that exists. I'm the saviour of many innocent lives, human, mutant, and other. And believe me, there's a whole lot of 'others' out there. I believe in the Professor's dream, which is that humans and mutants are capable of living together in peace, harmony, and love. It's my duty to do everything I can to see the dream through, and I usually do it by fighting any threats to it. That's why I couldn't be there for you. And that's why I should have, because if I can't be there for my own family, how can I be there for the people that seem to need me?

"I failed you Aunt Joyce. If I could trade my life for yours, right now, I'd do it in a heartbeat. You deserve to be alive. You deserve to be there when Buffy graduates from college, when Dawn graduates from all of the schools that she'll be going to- and she'll be at the top of the class, I'm sure. You deserve to dance at their weddings, to hold and love all the grandchildren that you're going to have. But you're not going to. And it's all so senseless! I've met truly evil beings, most of whom are alive right now, breathing the air when you aren't, drinking their coffee when you aren't, basking in the sun, when you aren't. And here I am. I just had a great lunch, and I think that I'm going to throw it up all over the floor, and you're never going to eat anything ever again. I know, I know- you won't miss the vomiting.

"But worst of all, you're not going to be there for Buffy and Dawn. You're not going to be there for them as they grow into the amazing women that I can already see emerging. You're not going to be there to take care of them when they need it. But I will, I promise."

Scott kissed his aunt's forehead.

"I'll be there for them like I couldn't be for you, I swear it. I won't be Uncle Hank, who we can't even find. I won't be my father. I'll do everything that I can for them, Aunt Joyce. I'll do it for them, and I'll do it for you. You know, I never ever thanked you for trying to adopt Alex and I? Alex ended up with a nice family, but they couldn't have loved him as much as you could've. I want to thank you for both of us. I love you, Aunt Joyce. I only wish that I could have told you sooner." 

Scott Summers rose, tears spilling from his eyes, and left the room. He didn't look back.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Alex Summers entered the room that held his aunt's body. He quickly went over to her. She was as pretty as Scott said she was. That was good. She should look pretty in the face of decay. Maybe beauty would keep time's inexorable march away for just a bit longer than it normally would. He could see moisture from where Scott's tears fell on her.

"I'm here, Aunt Joyce. It's me, Alex." That was good, good beginning, Al.

"After my parents died, I remember hearing about how you and Uncle Hank tried to adopt Scott and me. I don't think that I ever thanked you for that. So I'll change that. Thank you, thank you, and thank you. I've got a bunch more thank you's to say, but I won't take up all your time by saying them. 

"There's a lot I never told you. I never told you that I'm a mutant. I never told you that I was an X-Man for a while. Lorna and I both were, in fact, and Scott and Jean still are. Why did I stop? I guess it's because I want a normal life. I still do, and I've got one, most of the time. But lately, I'll confess, Lorna and I, we've been thinking about getting back into the superhero life. Things are getting worse for my kind, Aunt Joyce. But I'm sure you knew that, just as I'm sure that you hated it. You always told me to only bop someone on the nose for who they are, not for what they are. And I know you believed that, too. Buffy's a mutant too, isn't she? I've seen how strong she is.

"And I don't mean just physically. You'd be proud of how she's holding up. She needs to break down, but she doesn't, for Dawn's sake. They're very close, Aunt Joyce, and they'll be there to take care of each other. But they won't have just themselves to rely on. They've got a great group of friends, as you know, and they've got Scott, Lorna, Jean, and yes, even me, your 'little scrapper.' I'll take care of them, Aunt Joyce. We all will." He got and made for the exit. He turned around.

"I remember the time when I told you that even though you and Uncle Hank were getting divorced, you were still a Summers. It was the first time that I'd ever seen someone cry because they were happy. I wish I could see that expression on your face at Scott's wedding. I wish that I could see it at Buffy and Dawn's weddings. And I wish that I could see it at my wedding to Lorna, whenever that'll be- and I'm confident that it will."

His eyes finally started to tear up. He started to cry- at an unexpected time. Unexpected times seemed to be the story of his life.

"I love you Aunt Joyce. Goodbye."

He left the room, greatly needing to feel the sunshine.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Lorna Dane was the party's third viewer of Joyce Summers' body. She knew Joyce, but not as well as she'd wanted to. She'd only actually net the woman once, and talked to her on the phone every once in a while.

She stood by the dead woman's body. Joyce looked nice, which she hoped was a comfort to her family and friends. For her part, Lorna thought the whole process fake, and not a little morbid. At least her eyes were closed.

"Joyce, it's me. Lorna. I didn't know you very well, and I wanted to know you better, but something always came up, and I put it off. I always thought that there would be another time, and now there aren't any more times.

"Well, now I'm going to tell you all of the things that I've wanted to say. Thank you. You've been great to Alex. You made him very happy, and I can't tell you how much that means to me. Anyone that makes my man happy is purely of the good as far as I'm concerned, but you were also good to me. You didn't make any of the catty or snide comments that I've heard that people make about people who don't look traditional." She twirled a lock of her curly green hair. 

"You always treated me with respect, and you listened to me in those times when I confided in you, like that one time you called after Alex and I had that fight. You could have been a bitch to me, in fact I sort of expected it, but you weren't. You listened to both of us, and to be honest, I don't think we would have forgiven each other so quickly if you hadn't said all of the things that you did.

"I want you to know that I still remember what you told me, that one time at the restaurant you took us to in L.A. after you dropped Buffy and Dawn off to spend the summer with Hank. Alex went to the men's room, and you turned to me and said: 'Lorna, it's hard to love a Summers, but it's also worth it. I know because I'm the mother of two Summers', and I used to be married to a third. Just don't use Hank and I as role models, and you and Alex will be fine.' I never forgot that piece of advice.

Lorna began to leave, then turned back.

"Alex and I aren't traditional people, but then you know that. We've been 'living in sin' for a few years now, and you never said anything about it. We're also mutants. I wish that we'd had the guts to tell you while you were alive to respond, but I know that you wouldn't have cared about that either, as long as we were good people. Rest in peace, Joyce Summers. You more than deserve it."

And with that, she exited the place of death.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Jean entered the room last, and made her way to the body. Joyce Summers looked much as she did in the pictures that Scott showed her, except she lacked Joyce's quality of life that even a photograph couldn't miss. Jean sighed. The woman was truly gone, but then again she knew that. She waited for a few moments, then finally began to speak.

"I never met you, except for that one time on the phone. All I know is that you lived, and now you don't. A very wise man told me that that's all that really matters. 'Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee,' he says. And he's right. Your life enriched mine, and your death diminished it. That would be enough for me to mourn you, but you were so much more to me.

"Scott told me of how you and his uncle Hank fought to gain custody of him and Alex. I wish to God that you had. If you did, he would have gone through the time in his life when he gained his powers surrounded by people that loved him. He wouldn't be the same man that I fell in love with, but he would have been far happier. And I would have fallen in love with him anyways.

"When I look at Scott, and yes, at Alex too, I see young men that have been shaped by their experiences into the strong men that they are today. Part of the credit for that goes to you, and for that alone, I owe you more than I can ever repay. Thank you, Joyce Summers, for all the ways that you touched my life. I wish that you could have lived to see Scott and I happy. I wish that I could have known you better."

Slowly, memorizing the features of Joyce's face, she left the room, and her family left the place of death shortly after, to emerge into light.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

By that evening, all of the preparations for the big day had been made. All of Joyce's friends and family had been notified as to the location of the funeral, and about the fact that there would be no wake. 

            Buffy sighed. It had been a long day. She really loathed having to go to the place where her mother's body would be kept. For once, she actually felt like slaying. It had been too long since she'd just killed something deserving. She remembered her talk with her friends the previous evening. She grabbed a stake, slipped it into her purse, and found her friends and family in the living room.

            "Hey, Scott? Alex? Jean? Lorna? I'm going out for a walk. Want to come with?"

            The Scoobies' ears perked up at Buffy's request. Just one thought went through their minds- She's going to go through with it! While some of them, especially Giles, were somewhat apprehensive about Buffy letting her identity slip, they all recognized that it was her choice. And given the possibility of a misunderstanding over the source of Buffy's powers, getting the truth out may well be the best thing to do.

            For their parts, the X-Men could tell that something was up. *There's more to this than just a walk,* Jean sent. *I don't know what it could be, but I'm certain.* 

            Scott nodded. "That sounds great. What do you think?" he asked his family.

            "Sounds good," Alex said.

            "Can I come too?" Dawn asked.

            "No!," Buffy exclaimed. "I mean, it's probably going to be long, and it's a little late for you as it is."

            "But-" 

            "No, Dawn." Dawn turned pleading eyes to Scott.

            "Dawnie, I love you, but I am NOT getting involved," Scott told her, and the others nodded.

            "I have an idea," Jean said. "Why don't you and Alex go out with Buffy, and Lorna and I'll stay here with Dawn."

            "Okay," Lorna, said, instantly getting Jean's plan. "It'll give you three a chance to talk, and let us have a talk with Dawn."

            Alex and Scott made a show of thinking it over, then accepted. None of them needed to send the thought that whatever surprise was coming, the Summers brothers could probably handle it. And if they couldn't, their far more powerful ladies would be ready to come running if either of them gave a psychic signal.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

            Sunnydale was a small town, but Buffy's patrol route was long. While they chatted, about nothing in particular, she also played tour guide.

            "There's the Magic Box," she pointed at a building with a bright sign saying 'The Magic Box.' "Giles owns it and Anya works there. Most of us help out from time to time, except for Xander. He works on a construction site."

            The trio passed by another building. They could hear loud music coming out.

            "That's the Bronze. It's where we hang out. Well, I haven't been there in a while, because, well, y'know." She was silent for a while after that, and Scott and Alex respected that.

            They walked in silence until they walked past the burnt out shell of what appeared to be a large building. Scott and Alex stopped to look at it.

            "What the hell was _that_?" Alex asked.

            "That? Oh that used to be my high school, good old Sunnydale High."

            Scott and Alex looked at each other in disbelief.

            "Uh, Buffy," Scott asked her in a joking tone, "have you been playing with matches again."

            "Actually, Scott," she replied in a too calm voice, "I blew the school up to save Sunnydale from our now-dead Mayor, who turned himself into a giant demon snake."

            Scott was silent for a moment. Buffy was possibly a mutant, and the X-Men had certainly done weirder things to weirder creatures.

            "Of course I haven't been playing with matches, you jerk! There was a gas main that exploded!" She lied as she punched him on the arm. Hard, but not at her full strength.

            "Oww!"

            "Scotty," Alex laughed, "I love you bro, but you need to get a brand new joke-detector. Buffy wouldn't go straight to blowing up schools from burning down gyms."

            "I didn't burn down Hemery's gym! Well, not entirely on purpose, anyway. I had a good reason!" 'Not that I can tell you what it is, yet,' she thought to herself.

            "See? She only does things like that for good reasons. Now, if we'd heard about her blowing up her chem labs, I'd believe that she turned into a bomber." 

            Buffy punched Alex's arm. Hard, but again, not at her full strength.

            "Oww! That hurt!"

            "Whiner," she snorted.

            "Now I'm regretting going easy on you when we had our childhood wrestling matches," he grumbled, rubbing his sore arm. 

            "Oh? I thought she always beat you because you were a wimp," Scott laughed.

            "Really?" Alex turned to his 'dear' big brother.

            "Yes, really. Otherwise, why did you go crying to mom every time she whupped you?"

            "She always bit me!"

            "I don't remember any bite marks."

            "That's because there weren't any," Buffy said smugly.

            "But you did pull my hair!" Alex protested.

            "I was six, Alex. And it's not my fault you had a mullet when you were ten."

            "I didn't have a mullet!"

            "What would you call it, Scott?"

            "It certainly looked like a mullet."

            "Everybody hates me," Alex whined.

            "You're sounding like Dawn right now, you know," Buffy snickered. "Now _she _was a vicious little anklebiter."

            The joking continued until the Summers cousin's reached the Fairview Cemetery. The one where Joyce would be buried.

            "Well, I didn't mean to bring you two here, but here we are," Buffy said quietly. She cursed herself mentally. What did Professor Walsh say about how some accidents were Freudian slips? The woman may have been a psychobitca, but she did know her stuff.

            "Do you want to go in?" Scott asked her.

            Buffy thought for a moment.

            "We may as well. I'd like to see the place, before it gets all crowded." Of course, in Sunnydale, every cemetery was crowded, one way or another.

            "Well then, after you," Alex said. 

            Buffy led them to the gravesite. It was positioned by trees and bushes. The grave was already dug, and the headstone already made. It read: "Joyce Lynne Summers. Devoted mother, beloved friend. May she rest in peace." May she rest in peace. Buffy quietly snorted- she didn't order that, but she wasn't surprised. Almost every headstone in Sunnydale had a variation of _that_ put on.

            "Well, the tombstone's nice, at least," Alex said quietly.

            "How long has Sunnydale been around," Scott asked.

            "About a hundred years," Buffy replied. "Coming up to 102 pretty soon. Why?"

            "Oh. I didn't think a town so small would have such a big cemetery."

            It took all Buffy had not to laugh. The Fairview was the youngest of Sunnydale's twelve cemeteries, and the smallest.

            "Let's get out of here," Alex said suddenly.

            "Good idea," Buffy fervently agreed. This place suddenly seemed cold.

            "Oh, Slayer, leaving so soon?" came a voice from behind them.

            The Summers' whirled around. There, a few feet away, stood the tallest man that Buffy had ever seen. Except it wasn't a man. 

            "You are the Slayer, aren't you?" the vamp asked her. "Buffy Summers, isn't it? Short, blond, bad attitude? Not that it'll matter for long."

            "Who the hell are you?" Alex demanded. The vamp looked at him scornfully.

            "No one you need to concern yourself with, blondie. But if you want," he suddenly smiled, "you can be an appetizer."

            "Scott, Alex, get behind me!" Buffy cursed herself yet again. What the hell was she thinking? If Scott and Alex weren't mutants, they'd be defenceless against this vamp if he killed her.

            "No, Buffy, I don't think so." Scott said as he and Alex stepped in front of her. "This lady's our cousin, and if you want to hurt her, you'll have to get through us." From behind, she could see Scott grabbing the edges of his glasses, as if he was about to lower them. For his part, Alex was holding his arms like he was about to push something.

            "Do you want to get your little attack doggies killed, Slayer?" she could hear the vamp ask her. Buffy pushed herself in front of her cousins. 

            "This is my fight!" She turned to the vamp. "One on one?" she asked him.

            "Buffy-" Alex started.

            "Believe me, Alex, I've handled worse."

            "Yes, one on one," the vamp said loudly, too loudly. Other vampires emerged from the bushes.

            Buffy only had time to say, "Why am I not surprised?" before the fight began. 

            The big vampire, evidently the leader, went at her. He was fast, and strong. Buffy barely had time to get Mr. Pointy out before he got in too close for her to use it. He headbutted her, forcing her to drop the stake. It hurt! But she quickly recovered, kicked the vampire's legs out from under him, and made for the stake. She grabbed it, and barely got up before he was at her again. This time, she was ready. She hit him on the jaw with her free hand, and plunged the stake to his chest while he was dazed.

            But Buffy wasn't the only one with a quick recovery time. The vamp grabbed the her arm, and flipped her onto the ground. Hard. Before she could react, he had her pinned, facing up, and he had Mr. Pointy, poised for her heart.

            "So tell me, Slayer, how do things look from this end of the stake?" The vamp was grinning. Buffy smiled too. Did this skeeze _really_ think that she'd never been put in this position before? But before she could react, she heard a noise like a laser firing, the vampire yelled in agony, and she smelled something burning. She pushed him off of her, got up, and looked down. His back was on fire, and the rest of him was catching. He'd be dust in seconds.

            She looked in the direction that the laser must have come from. The other vamps, and Alex, were staring at Scott, who was staring at the now dusted vamp. His hand was holding the edge of his glasses, and from where Buffy was standing, she could see him mouth 'Oh my God.'

            Suddenly, the vamps sprang back into action. Before she could yell a warning, one of them hit Scott on the head from behind, so hard that it caused his glasses, which was still holding on to, to fall off.

            Red streams of light came from his eyes, and Buffy heard the laser noise again. His eyes quickly closed as he fell unconscious, but it was too late. The light hit her. Buffy tensed, closed her eyes, but she only felt a tickling sensation. She looked down. The lower half of her shirt had a large new hole, but she was fine! She looked back at her cousins. Alex was being mobbed, but was actually holding his own. The vamp that hit Scott had him on the ground, and was about to plunge a knife into his back. Buffy grabbed Mr. Pointy and raced to her older cousin, afraid that she wouldn't get there in time. Suddenly, she saw an all too familiar figure bodily grab the vamp and say: "Didn't your mum ever teach you not to hit a man with glasses?" It was Spike. What was he doing here?

            "Buffy!" Spike yelled. He tossed the vamp at her, and turned to help Alex. The vamp flew through the air at her. Buffy took careful aim, and jabbed Mr. Pointy where his heart would be. Bull's-eye! Dusted in one. She turned to help Alex and Spike.

            The other vamps were fleeing. Alex was snarling. 

            "Oh no, you don't," he hissed. He thrust an arm out, and rings of yellowish energy shot out at the fleeing vampires. The energy engulfed them. They caught of fire, and quickly turned into dust.

            "Holy shit!" Alex exclaimed. "It's never done _that_ before!" Spike just stared, and so did Buffy. On the ground, Scott started to moan.

            "Scotty!" Alex went to his brother's side.

            "Glasses," Buffy heard him say. She saw Alex turn Scott over. Scott's eyes were held tightly shut. Alex found the glasses, and put them into Scott's hands. Scott put them on, and Alex helped him up. The Summers brothers just looked at Buffy, and Buffy just looked at them.

            "What the HELL is going on here?" Naturally, Spike was the one to break the silence.


	4. A Love Song of a Sort

Chapter Three: A Love Song- of a Sort

            Half an hour later, another meeting took place in the Summers household. This time, the Scoobies, the X-Men, Dawn, and Spike were there. Xander and Angel protested Spike's presence, but since he saved Scott's life, and since he knew everything about Buffy anyway, Buffy invited him in.

            The groups looked at each other. 

            "Well, it's your town, Buffy," Scott finally told her. "You decide who gets to go first."

            Buffy nodded.

            "I will. I'm a Vampire Slayer."

            "A what?"

            "A Vampire Slayer. The Slayer, for short."

            "Isn't that what that guy in the cemetery called you?" Alex asked.

            "That's right."

            "I'm sorry, but I don't understand," Jean said. "Some friends of ours had a run-in with a vampire, and they said he looked human. They didn't say anything about fangs or yellow eyes or a demonic looking face."

            "That's because they were in what we call 'vamp-face,'" Willow told her. "Your friends had a run-in with a vampire? You actually believe us?"

            "Yes, and yes," Lorna told her. "They said that he claimed that he was Dracula."

            "Dracula?" Xander asked her. "Black hair, animal magnetism, turns into a bat, bad accent, 'I vant to suck your blood' Dracula?"

            "That's the way they described him. He almost turned one of our friends into a vampire."

            "He'd been biting her for a few nights," Scott explained. "She was under his control, and supposedly took on a few vampiric traits herself."

            "That's ol' Drac, alright," Spike snorted. All eyes turned to him. "He's the only one who's vain enough to use those melodramatic gypsy tricks he's picked up. The rest of us prefer to just feed, or sire in the normal way, but not that sodding debtor."

            "We've had a run-in with Dracula, too," Buffy said. "He's the only vamp with powers like the ones in the movies. Of course, since he inspired all the movies-"

            "Gotcha," Alex told her. "Wait a minute!" He turned to look at Spike. "'The only one of us?'"

            "That's right, mate." Spike went into vamp face. "I'm a vampire, creature of the dark, unholy hellspawn of the night."

            "But you helped Buffy. Doesn't that make you a good vampire?" Lorna asked, dubiously.

            "He's been neutered," Xander said gleefully. The X-Men looked at him.

            "Spike had a chip implanted in his head," Giles explained. "He can't hurt humans anymore. Well, he can, but the chip gives him a severe shock wherever he does. He can still hurt demons and the undead, though."

            "'Fraid so. 'Good vampire,' indeed. If you want a good vampire, talk to Peaches over there," he snorted, jerking a thumb at Angel, who glared at him.

            "How come you're a good vampire?" Alex asked, more than a little curious.

            "I sort of pissed off the wrong people," Angel responded. "They cursed me by giving me my soul back."

            "That's a curse?"

            "Imagine doing the most horrible things imaginable for over a hundred years. Imagine enjoying every minute of it. Then imagine suddenly caring about every single sin you've committed. Tell me that's not a curse."

            "Anyway, Angel's a good guy now," Cordelia put in. "He works for the Powers That Be. He's one of their Champions. He saves souls."

            "So your fighting for- what? Your redemption?"

            "No," Angel said quietly. "I can never do that. It doesn't work like that. I can't cancel out all the things I've done. I can only make sure that nothing ever happens to an innocent ever again."

            "Oh." The room went silent.

            "Okay," Scott said. "We've been hearing about your friends, Buffy, but I want to hear about you. What's this 'Slayer' bit?"

            "In each generation, there is a Chosen One," Wes began.

            "She alone must stand against the Vampires, the Demons, and the Forces of Darkness," Giles continued.

            "She is the Slayer," they finished together.

            "Okay, you guys are still sound a little too Watcher-y for me," Xander muttered.

            "So there's only one Slayer at a time?" Lorna asked.

            "That's the way it's supposed to be," Buffy replied. Jean gave Buffy a glance that was part suspicious, and part speculative.

            "So what exactly makes you the Slayer?" she asked.

            "I have super-reflexes, a have a natural way with certain weapons, sometimes a get prophetic dreams, and as you know by now," she glanced at Alex and Lorna, "I'm really strong."

            "You saw us, huh?" Alex asked sheepishly.

            "Nope."

            "Then how-"

            "I heard Lorna telling Scott," Angel said. "Vampires have really good hearing."

            "Really?" Scott frowned. "What else did you hear?"

            "That Buffy has mutants in your side of the family tree."

            "We're related to mutants?" Dawn looked surprised. "Ohmygod that is so very COOL!"

            "While this would be the natural segue to our little explanations," Jean said, "I'd like to hear more about the nature of the Slayer."

            "Shoot," Buffy responded.

            "How exactly do you get your powers? Are you born with them?"  
  


            "Nope. At least I don't think so. I got my powers when  was Called at fifteen."

            "Called?"

            "Yeah. That's what the Watchers call it when a Slayer gets her Slayerness."

            "Are all Slayers Called when they reach fifteen?"

            "I think there have been younger Slayers," Buffy said, glancing at Giles.

            "Yes, there have been, actually, although 15 is roughly the average. It depends on when the previous Slayer-" he abruptly stopped.

            "When the previous Slayer _what_, Mr. Giles?" Scott broke in. He had a sneaking suspicion of what it was, but he hoped he was wrong.

            "When the previous Slayer-" he looked at Buffy, who simply nodded. "When the previous Slayer dies."

            Scott's heart sunk. *You knew, didn't you?* he asked Jean.

            *No, I didn't. But I did guess. When Buffy said that there was only supposed to be one at a time, I figured that either a Slayer was only around for a few years out of every 15 or so, or that there was a stream of Slayers somehow being activated. But unless I'm mistaken, there's a bit more that we haven't heard yet.*

            Jean turned to Buffy. "When Lorna asked you if there was only one Slayer at a time, you said that that was the way it's supposed to be. What did you mean by that?"

            Buffy glared at Jean. "You're a smart lady, you know that?"

            "I try. There's more than one right now, isn't there?" In her mind, she could tell that Lorna had come to the same conclusion that she herself did. For that matter, Scott and Alex did as well, but they were trying to deny it.

            "Fine. You're right. You'll probably get this out of me anyway, so I'll just tell you. I died."

            "WHAT?" Scott and Alex yelled simultaneously.

            "A really tough vampire bit me, and dropped me in a pool of water. I was clinically dead for a few minutes. Xander and Angel showed up to save me, and Xander performed CPR." She smiled at him. "He brought me back, but I was dead enough to satisfy whatever it is that makes little Slayers, so another was Called. But because I'm the Slayer, I had my powers when I came back. And so now, there are two."

            "It's a situation unprecedented in all history," Wesley said. "The Council is trying to figure out what it means."

            "The Council?" Alex asked. His head was spinning. He knew that magic existed, he knew about vampires, hell, he'd even met Stephen Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme himself. But this was coming a little fast for him. A sure sign that he'd been out of the superhero biz for a while.

            "The Council of Watchers," Wesley answered him. "An organization based out of Britain. The Watcher's Council ensures that supernatural menaces like vampires and demons don't get too out of hand, but it's main job is to find and train the Slayer in her mission."

            "And they've been doing a bang-up job," Buffy muttered. "Not you and Giles, you're alright, but the rest are- sorry. I can't say any of the really accurate words around Dawn."

            "Aww!" Dawn jokingly whined. "You never let me hear anything interesting!"

            "So what's wrong with them?" Scott asked.

            "They're a collection of clueless bureaucrats, out of touch with how the modern world works," Giles said. "And I'm one of them. Wesley and I both were, until we got fired."

            "But Giles got re-hired, because of Buffy and his position as Buffy's Watcher," Wesley finished. He turned to Giles. "Sometime before I return to Los Angeles, tell me how Buffy humiliated dear old Quentin. Some stories never get old."

            "I've only got one more question," Scott said.

            "Good," Buffy replied. "Last one before you get to sing your hearts out."

            "Why do your friends know about you?"

            "We help her fight!" Willow said proudly.

            "That's right," Xander said proudly. "We too get to kick some demon ass!"

            "So you're like- the Slayerettes?" Lorna asked.

            "We prefer to call ourselves the Scoobies," Tara said. "Well, you know, we're mostly young, and go around chasing demons and ghosts."

            "Yeah!" Anya said proudly. "Xander goes out and fights, and gets all hot, sweaty, and full of adrenaline, and we have-"

            "That's enough, Ahn!" Xander interrupted her before she could finish and completely embarrass him. He may as well not have- the smirks everyone wore told him that everyone got it.

            "But we're not defenceless," Tara put in. "I'm a witch, Willow's a really powerful witch, Anya used to be a demon, Spike's some more muscle, Mr. Giles is really smart, and both he and Xander are really good fighters."

            "That's right, except you left out the part where you're really powerful too," Willow said, smiling at her girlfriend.

            "And there's not just us," Xander finished. "Cordy and Angel used to be in the club, too, before they left to be detectives, and we've also had a werewolf and a soldier, too." The words were out his mouth before Xander winced. Both Buffy and Willow gave him a smile, as if to say 'It's okay, Xand.'

            "What about the Hellmouth?" Dawn asked.

            "Okay," Buffy said. She turned to her family. "You deserve to know about that too. Sunnydale is located on a Hellmouth. A Hellmouth is kind of a Disneyland for demons and other fun supernatural things. It's a confluence of mystical energies, which all combine to create a weak point in the barriers that keep the dimensions separate. All that magic doesn't directly hurt anyone, but it does attract a _lot of vamps and demons, and you know what I have to do to __them. The evil ones, anyway. Not all demons are evil." She turned to Giles. "How'd I do?"_

            "That's it exactly," he smiled proudly at her. The smile turned into a smirk. "I didn't know you actually listen to me so well."

            "Very funny," she replied, and turned to her family. "Well, that's us," Buffy said. "What about you?"

            "Our turn," Alex muttered. "Go ahead, Fearless Leader."

            "Well," Scott began, "as I'm sure you've all guessed by now, Jean and Alex and Lorna and I are mutants."

            "Uh-huh," Xander responded. "So what can you do?"

            "Ladies first," Alex smirked.

            Jean and Lorna looked at each other, and then Lorna stepped forward.

            "I can control magnetic fields," was all she said.

            "Like that weird Magneto guy?" Anya asked.

            "Yes, but I'm not that powerful. Maybe I will be someday, but not right now. Would you like a demonstration?" Everyone nodded, intrigued.

            Lorna smiled. Xander began to rise into the air.

            "Whoa!" he screamed. Everyone except the mutants stared at him.

            "And that's just from the metal in your belt buckle." She set him down.

            "Coolness," he breathed. "Do it again!" he begged.

            "Some other time," she said to him. "I'm glad you told me what all that energy is. I thought that I was going to go nuts." She turned to Jean. "Your turn."

            "I'm a psi. I have telekinetic and telepathic powers."

            "You can read minds?" Dawn asked, a little stunned. She shot a worried look at Buffy.

            "Don't worry," Jean laughed. "The Hellmouth energies seem to be interfering with my telepathic powers. I still have them, and when I consciously use them they're fine, but I can't hear any random surface thoughts. It's a bit refreshing, actually."

            "Can you read my mind?" Angel asked.

            Jean nodded. Suddenly, she gasped.

            "It's like your not there!"

            "I thought not. It's the same thing with mirrors- you can't see anything because in some ways, there nothing to see."

            "I see."

            "Can you read my mind?" Xander asked.

            "I thought that having your mind read once would be enough," Cordelia snorted.

            "Oh?" Jean asked.

            "Yeah," Cordy responded. "Buffy was telepathic for a while when we were in Senior Year."

            "Really?"

            "I'm not anymore," Buffy clarified. "It's a long story."  
  


            "I'm dying to hear it," Jean responded. "Ready?" she asked Xander. He nodded. After a moment, she smirked.

            "Haven't you seen Austin Powers, Mr. Harris? Thinking of baseball and cold showers doesn't work. Although I'm sure Anya would be very flattered." Xander blushed. Jean suddenly gasped.

            *What's wrong Jean?* Scott asked via their psychic rapport.

            "Something I saw before I closed the link," she replied aloud. "It's nothing. Well, nothing that I can't show you back home in our nice, big, supple bed." Now Scott blushed. The others laughed. "Thanks for the idea, Xander."

            "Don't mention it."

            "And now we come to the combustion boys," Spike said.

            "We don't light things on fire!" Alex said emphatically. "At least we're not supposed to."

            "Mr. Giles," Scott asked, "does the Hellmouth interfere with any other forms of energy."

            "No," he replied. "At least, not in my experience. The only energies that interact with the Hellmouth at all are other magical energies, although some of those do interact with things like electricity." Willow blushed, remembering the time she accidentally blew the circuit breaker for her entire block by trying to contact the spirit world.

            "Well, Alex and I have similar powers-" Scott began.

            "Practically the same powers, which is normal when mutants are blood relatives," Alex finished.

            "What do you do?" Giles asked.

            "We absorb sunlight and other cosmic rays, and redirect them into other forms of energy," Scott told him.

            "Fascinating," was all Giles said.

            "Wait a minute," Buffy asked. "How come those laser eyes of yours blew a hole in my shirt, but didn't hurt me?"

            "Certain mutant powers don't affect close blood relatives," Scott explained.

            "Yeah," Alex added. "For example- Buffy, if I could, say, draw lightning out of the sky and hit you with it, you'd be electrocuted-"

            "But if he generated it himself, you'd be fine," Scott finished.

            "Yeah," Alex added. "Scott and I could batter each other all day and we'd only destroy our clothes and end up naked."

            *We should get them to do that sometime* Lorna sent to Jean.

            *No argument here* Jean sent back.

            "Alex channels his powers through his arms and chest, and my powers come out of my eyes," Scott continued, oblivious to the psychic exchange.

            "The only difference is that Scotty can't control his powers, and I can," Alex added. "That's why he has to wear those glasses. Ruby-Quartz is the only thing that we know about that doesn't get destroyed by his beams, other than Summers skin."

            "Why can't you control your powers?" Cordelia asked.

            "Well, the Professor thinks that its because I hit my head when I was a kid. It damaged the part of my brain that would normally control them."

            "How did you hurt yourself?" Buffy asked.

            The X-Men were quiet for a moment.

            "It was when my parents died. Alex and I had the plane's only parachute, and the landing was rough."

            "Oh," was all Buffy could say. The room was silent for a time.

            "Well, there's more," Jean finally said.

            "We're listening," Buffy replied.

            "We're in a club too. You've heard of the X-Men?"

            The Scoobies couldn't believe what they heard. Scott, Jean, Alex, and Lorna were X-Men?

            "I take it you have."

            "We're not terrorists, like everyone says," Scott quickly said.

            "Yeah," Lorna added. "The worst name that we can be called is 'dreamer.'"

            "We believe that humans and mutants can live together in peace," Alex added.

            "What we do is try to make sure that that can happen, and we do that by fouling up the plans of anyone that is trying to destroy one side or the other. By fighting them, if necessary," Scott continued.

            "And unfortunately, it usually is," Jean finished.

            "Wow," was all that Dawn could say. Then she grinned. "I knew you guys weren't evil!"

            "You did? Great!" Alex said, impulsively hugging the youngest Summers. "It's about time someone realized that!"

            "Believe me, we all know what it's like to have our actions misread by some stupid little trolls," Buffy muttered. "I'm sorry- I remembered Snyder there. Scott, you were talking about a Professor. Is that Professor Xavier?"

            "Yup," Alex grinned, stealing his brother's thunder. "He's the leader of the X-Men. He's the one that made us what we are today."

            "Is he a mutant too?" Willow asked.

            "Yes he is," Jean replied. "In fact, he's currently the most powerful psi alive."

            "Although Jean may well push him down to the number-two spot," Lorna said.

            "Wow," was all Buffy could say. The others were impressed too- she could tell.

            "I've seen you guys on the news!" Tara said suddenly. "Scott, are you the one with the visor?"

            "Yes, I am," he replied with a smile. "That's why they call me Cyclops." 

            "That's right- Scotty's just a big one-eyed monster," Alex laughed.

            "Very funny. When Lorna and Alex were X-Men, they were called Polaris-" 

            "As in 'polarity,'" Lorna interjected.

            "And Havok," Scott finished.

            "Probably because of all the fights he got into," Buffy said before Alex could say anything. "Seriously, he was like Scrappy-Doo. 10 year olds shouldn't have mullets."  
  


            "_I did not have a mullet!" Alex exclaimed. The others laughed. _

            "Actually, Alex," Lorna said, trying not to laugh, "you did. I've seen the pictures."

            "Et tu, Lorna?"

            "Don't worry- it looked good on you. In fact, I bet it'd make you look even sexier."

            "Really?" Alex eagerly asked, anger forgotten.

            *It takes so little to appease him* Lorna sent. Jean only smiled in return.

            "And right now, Jean's codename is just Jean Grey," Scott concluded.

            "I was 'Marvel Girl' when we first started out, then I was Phoenix for a while, and now I'm just 'Jean Grey,'" Jean explained.

            "Why the switch," Buffy asked.

            "Well, that's a long story of its own," Jean said. "We don't like to talk about it." Scott put his hand on her shoulder, and she rested her head on it for a brief moment. They both remembered the months she spent recovering after the Phoenix Entity left her body. She was a wreck for a while, and Scott was there by her side through it all, helping her recover.

            The Scoobies sensed that there was a story there, but decided to leave it alone. Whatever it was, there was much obviously Big Badness involved.

            Dawn took the lull in conversation to consider what she had been wondering ever since Alex and Lorna arrived. She'd never tell this to her father, because she didn't think that he could handle it, but maybe the X-Men could.

            "Uh Jean," Dawn asked, breaking the silence, "could I ask you a favour?"

            "Sure Dawn," she smiled, "if I can."

            "Would you read my mind?"

            "Dawn-" Buffy began.

            "Buffy," Dawn said, a look of resolve on her face, "they're family. They deserve to know. And I want to know if Jean can read my mind." She turned to Jean. "I hope that you know what you're doing. I don't know what this'll be like for you."

            The X-Men shared a confused look.

            "Okay," Jean finally said. "You ready?"

            "Uh-huh."

            "Here we go." Jean was quiet for a moment. Images flooded into her mind- green light everywhere, men dressed as monks, a stunning blond in a dress, and then-

            Jean gasped. Scott could feel her shock through his rapport with Jean.

            "Jean! What's wrong? Jean!"

            "I'm fine, Scott," was all she said. 

            "You saw, didn't you?" Dawn asked her, quietly. The Scoobies and their friends, all of whom knew Dawn's secret, waited for Jean's answer.

            "Yes. Yes I did." Dawn and the Scoobies let out a subconsciously taken breath.

            "What?" Scott demanded. "What did you see?"

            Jean sighed.

            "It's a long story. I'll show you- it's faster." She projected what she had seen in Dawn's mind to her fellow X-Men. After a moment, everyone in the room knew the secret of the Key.

            "So what do you think of your fake cousin?" Dawn asked, tearfully.

            After a moment, Scott came to where she was sitting, and knelt down to look her in the eye. 

            "Dawn, I remember holding you when you were a baby. I remember the way you stared at all of my toys when I showed them to you. I remember you getting sick one night, and going to the hospital with Mom, Dad, Uncle Hank, Aunt Joyce, Alex and Buffy so that we could find out what was wrong with you. All of that's real to me, even if it didn't happen. You're Dawn Elizabeth Summers, my youngest cousin. A whiny pain in the neck, sometimes" here he smiled, "but I love you. That's all that matters. I don't care what else you are." They hugged, and then Scott made room for Alex to talk to her.

            Alex knelt beside Scott and looked straight at Dawn.

            "All I remember about you as a baby is how you used to pee whenever I held you. You didn't do it with anybody else. Oh, no. I was your special rag. That's real to me, and so are you. I love you, kiddo." He hugged her. "Welcome to the family," he whispered into her ear. "You and me are the only sane ones, but it's a good family to be in." When they released each other, Alex said loudly, "And if that Glory bitch tries to hurt you, she's gonna see what a pissed off Summers can really do!"

            "Count on it," Scott added, very firmly.

            "You got that right," Buffy smiled, standing with her cousins.

            "And it won't just be from the Summers' either!" Jean added, joining the group.

            "Oh, no," Lorna put in joining the throng. 

            "No one's Dawn gonna touch Dawn while I'm here," Xander said, joining the group. 

            "Not if I can help it." Willow joined the others.

            "Not if _we can help it," Tara said quietly as she joined up._

            "Me too," Cordelia whispered, hugging Dawn from behind.

            "There are only three things in this world that are priceless: money, sex, and family," Anya said as she came over. "And I'm not going to just stand by when someone tries to take one of those things away."

            "Saving souls is in the job description," Angel said as he came over. "But in this case, I have a personal reason for doing it."

            "For millennia, the Watchers Council made a habit of turning little girls into weapons and sending them to their deaths," Wes said as he joined up. "I'm not a member of the Council anymore."

            "I am," Giles said. "And Dawn? You're just as much in my care as Buffy is. I trust you know what that means."

            Dawn smiled and nodded. It meant that he loved her more than life itself and that he would gladly die to protect her. British people had such a tough time saying what they really felt. And speaking of British people-

            All eyes turned to Spike.

            "What? You think I'll let anything happen to my Little Bit when I'm around? Well I won't. Not to her and not to her family." He looked straight at Buffy when he said that. It should have creeped her out, but for some strange reason it made her sort of happy.

            Only Angel heard when Spike whispered, "I promise you, Joyce. Nothing will hurt Dawn, not if I can stop it. I owe you that much, at least." After the impromptu meeting broke up, Angel spent a great deal of time contemplating his Child's Child and how much he'd changed.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

            Joyce Summers was buried the next night. The funeral was sad, as all funerals are, but it had an interesting edge to it, seeing as how the chief mourners each had some kind of weapon in case of an unwelcome intruder. In some ways it was cathartic, but everyone that left knew that they had lost a great lady, and that their lives would never be the same.

            After it was over, the L.A. group started back to their home. It had been a while since they left, and there were a bunch of souls that were bound to need saving. The mission called, as it always did. It was a good one, though, and that's what really mattered. The Scoobies and the members of Angel Investigations parted on good terms, hoping to see each other soon. After all, they were not only fellow soldiers protecting a very sorry world, but old friends as well.

            Alex and Lorna were going to drive Scott and Lorna back to the airport on their way home. While the other three got ready, Scott pulled Buffy aside to the kitchen. They sat down at the table.

            "And what now, Buff?" he asked her.

            "I don't know," Buffy sighed. "That's what I've been afraid of ever since the day mom died. I've been spending all my time getting ready for the funeral, and now it's over. I'll be taking care of Dawn, I know. I might even get a job. There's this fast food place called the DoubleMeat Palace that's always hiring. I want to go back to school in the fall."

            "Okay, but what are _you going to do?"_

            "I don't know. It's just me, now. Me, Buffy Summers, in the big bad real world. I don't think I'm ready, Scott," she said with desperation in her voice, "I really don't think I'm ready!" Scott hugged her.

            "Yes, you are," he told her. "Aunt Joyce taught you everything that there is to know about the real world. And Buffy?" She looked up at him. "If being an X-Man has taught me anything, it's that no one is alone unless they want to be. Look at all the friends you've got! Xander, Willow, Anya, Tara- and what about your friends in L.A.? What about your family? You've got Alex, Jean, Lorna, and finally, there's me, for whatever I'm worth. And you've got Uncle Hank, if you can ever track him down- he may not show it much, Buffy, but he loves you. And what about Mr. Giles? He seems to be a father to you. And don't forget Dawn. She's been through a lot, and she'll probably go through more soon, but she a Summers, and that means she's strong." Scott couldn't believe that he said all that.

            "Thanks, Scott," Buffy said. She had tears in her eyes, but they weren't tears of sorrow. "Please don't be a stranger, huh?"

            "Count on it."

            *Scott?* Jean's voice echoed in his mind.

            *In the kitchen* he replied. Jean entered soon after. She sat down next to Buffy.

            "Buffy," she said, "Scott and I have been talking, and-" she looked at her fiancée, who nodded. "And we've come to a decision about the wedding. It'll be going ahead as planned."

            "Oh, good," Buffy breathed, relieved. She knew that Joyce would have wanted it to go ahead as planned.

            "And Buffy?"

            "Yeah?"

            "Do you and Dawn have white dresses?"

            "Yes, we do. Why?"

            "Because all of my bridesmaids are going to wear white."

            That took a moment to sink in.

            "Bridesmaids? Us?"

            "If you want to be."

            "Yes! Oh God, yes! We'd be honoured." She turned towards the door and called, "Dawn! Come here please!"

            "What is it?" Dawn asked when she got to the kitchen.

            "Dawn," Jean asked, "would like to be one of my bridesmaids?"

            The squealing and the firm embrace told Jean that the answer was yes.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

            When the Summers house was finally empty of guests, Buffy and Dawn just looked at each other. The house seemed dead somehow.

            "What do we do now?" Dawn asked Buffy.

            "Well, you have to go to bed. You're going to school tomorrow."

            "Okay. And can I also start packing for New York?"

            Buffy smiled. "If you want. Just don't pack anything that you'll need between then and now. And don't stay up all night!" Buffy called as Dawn ran up the stairs.

            Buffy smiled. New York. For years she'd been hearing about the School that Scott attended and now taught at, and after what she'd been told of the X-Men, she wanted to meet them too. She wondered if this Logan that Scott and Jean told her about was really as good a fighter as they said he was. Hopefully she'd find out in a little over a week.

            For the first time in what seemed a long time, life was actually starting to look good for Buffy. She then cursed herself, again. If it didn't turn out that way, it was now officially her fault.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

            At that moment, across town from the Summers house, in one of the trendier parts of town, was a beautiful villa. A small mansion, truth be told. And in that mansion, an ugly scabby figure was kneeling before a stunning blond woman. 

            "Wonderful news, Your Beauteous Splendiferousness!"

            "Out with it, Jinx," she said in an annoyed and bored tone. "It's almost time for the late night showing of 'Passions.'"

            "My contacts have located a spell that will tell you the location any one object, item, person, or entity that you desire!"

            The blond sat up, all thoughts of 'Passions' out of her mind.

            "Are you sure?"

            "Oh yes, Your Magnificent Eminence-"

            "Yeah, whatever. How soon can your 'contacts' get it here?"

            "The spell requires a number of rare and valuable ingredients that will take time to gather, your-"

            "How long, Jinxy? Don't make me mad at you!"

            The minion swallowed. He did _not want to get his mistress angry with him at any cost._

            "All told, a little over a week. That's with everything needed, your-"

            "Be gone, Jinx. And get me my chocolates! I can't enjoy a show without my maraschinos!"

            "Yes, your Chocolate Lovingness Wonderfulness!" Jinx went off in search of the mistress' chocolates.

            Glorificus, the Beast, lay back on her plush leather sofa with a large grim on her face. A little over a week? That was cutting it close, but if the spell worked she would have time to kill. Only she wouldn't be killing time. A certain Slayer was high on her to kill list, though.

            "A little over a week, Slayer," she exulted to herself. "I'll make you pay for keeping my Key from me. In a little over a week, I'll show you what a pissed off HellGoddess can really do!"


	5. A Slow Movement

Chapter Four: A Slow Movement

Author's Note: the characters in this fanfic do not belong to me. They are the property of Mutant Enemy (Buffy and Co.), and Marvel Comics (X-Men/ New Mutants). 

Buffy-wise: This story occurs during Buffy S5. The prologue is post "Triangle" but pre "Checkpoint", and the rest is post "The Body." May veer off into AU- in fact, it probably will. 

Marvel-wise: Everything up to Uncanny X-Men #137 is canon. In this work, the Phoenix Entity left Jean after the battle in Uncanny X-Men #138. Also, this verse has been updated to 2001- well, this part of the timeline... you know what I mean. Also, the only other X- team at this time is the New Mutants. X-Men and the New Mutants- that's it.

            Note: This takes place after "Intervention."

            April 22, Sunnydale CA.

            Ten days after Joyce Summers was buried, her daughters got ready to go to New York.

            The Scoobies were all at the airport, sans Spike as it was daytime, ready to bid the Scoobies goodbye.

            "Have fun, Buff," Xander said as he embraced Buffy.

            "Count on it."

            "Um, could you get me the X-Men's autographs? I mean, I hear that the Avengers and the Fantastic Four give them if their approached on the street, and well-"

            "I getcha. I'll ask, 'kay?"

            "Thanks." He moved on to Dawn.

            "And remember, no slaying," Willow added as she took her turn.

            "I'll try,"

            "Good. Now, no burning things down, or blowing things up, and no fighting."

            "Will! I thought you wanted me to have fun!"

            "Have a great time, Buffy," Willow laughed.

            "Now, Buffy," Anya said brightly as she took her turn, "Here's a list of all the places you'll want to go see when you're in New York."

            "Thanks, Ahn," Buffy said. She looked at the list. "Why are all these places expensive stores?"  
  


            "Oh, uh- no reason in particular."

            "Just have fun Buffy, and don't worry about us," Tara said as she hugged her friend.

            "I will. I mean, I won't! I will and I won't."

            "Buffy," Giles said, last as always, "Enjoy yourself, and that's an order."

            "I thought you didn't give orders anymore," Buffy replied, then turned serious. "Giles, what-"

            "Don't even finish that sentence! If she comes for us, we'll go to L.A., and ask Angel for protection."

            "What if she finds out about Dawn?"

            "Then she'll head for New York. If she comes, call us. We may not get there in time, but I'm confident that a team of superheroes can hold her off."

            "Okay."

            "And Buffy, enjoy yourself! You deserve it."

            Half an hour later, Buffy and Dawn were in the air. Buffy remembered the past few days with a shudder.

            After her cousins left, she started to feel empty again, empty and drained. She talked to Giles about it, and he took her out to a sacred place in the desert, where she had a vision of the First Slayer, that told her that "she was full of love." When she got back, she found that Spike had made a robo-bimbo that looked just like her. She would have pummelled him into a pulp, if Glory hadn't beaten her to it. And then she found out about Dawn's new habit of cutting classes. She was not happy, but she made her displeasure very clear. Fortunately it was now Dawn's Spring Break, or there would have been no way that Dawn could have gone.

            She sighed and felt worried. She didn't know how the Hellbitch knew, but Glory had somehow discovered that the Key was a person. Fortunately, that person was sitting right beside her in the window seat. Giles was right- surely a bunch of superheroes could help Buffy put Glory in the ground if it came to that. Couldn't they?

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

            In the mansion, Ben was pacing in a nervous manner. Very soon, it was probably going to be all over, for him and for the world. Jinx and his 'contacts' were idiots, but they knew their stuff. And most importantly, they knew what happened when a promise that was made to his dear parasite wasn't followed through.

            He considered bolting. Even though the Minions always found him, yet another testament to their magical skills- which they probably had to balance out the fact that they were completely useless otherwise- he might be able to make it to the Slayer to warn her before Glory popped up. Or maybe she'd get a hold of him in the middle of his warning. It was possible- the bitch was getting stronger, so he was spending more and more time in that dreamless sleep that he entered into whenever she took control. 

            Just then, Jinx and the other minions entered, carrying a number of bags and small trunks. Jinx carried an enormous leather bound book. 

            "We are almost ready sir," the minion told him brightly. "This world will soon be going to hell in a hand basket- literally."  
  


            "Wonderful," he replied flatly as the minions began to unpack. He looked at the items that were being brought out. Some of them looked awfully- disposable. He checked his options. Once Glory's gate was opened, she'd regain her powers and he would no longer exist. He didn't want to die, but at this moment, it looked inevitable. He'd die anyway- now or in fifty years or so. If he did his share in protecting the Key, he'd not only fend off his doom for a while, but also get even with that insufferable life-stealing bitch. One of the minions was removing a crystal disk from a chest. It looked like- it was! Kyrellian Crystal! Such crystals were notoriously fragile. That would be his target.

            Without warning, he sprang for it. Getting it away from the minion was easy, but just as he was about to smash it- 

            "No!" The world began to grow dark, and he could feel Glory in his mind. She was always there, but now she was active.

            "No-" it was too late. He felt his body crunch, grow shorter, and shift form.

            Before his consciousness fell fully into darkness, he heard a female voice say, "What does this do?"

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

            New York, NY.

            The flight was uneventful- the best kind, really- but the airport was a nightmare. Buffy hadn't been in a large airport for years, and she had forgotten how crowded they could be. Dawn was a little nervous.

            "What if we can't find them?"  she asked Buffy.

            "We'll find them," Buffy responded.

            "How do you know?"  
  


            "Dawnie, I've tracked things that don't want to be found. I'm thinking I'll do okay finding something that does."

            A few minutes later, the Summers sisters were still on their own.

            "Oh, so you can track something that wants to be found, huh?"

            "Quiet, you."

            "Hey!" Dawn suddenly pointed out in the crowd. "Isn't that green hair?"

            Buffy looked where Dawn was pointing. It did look like green hair. Buffy decided to risk it. "Lorna?" she called.

            The figure turned. "Buffy! Dawn!" It was Lorna.

            The ladies hugged.

            "It's so good to see you," Lorna said happily. "How was the flight?"

            "Boring," Buffy said.

            "The guy in the seat in front of me kept trying to hit on the lady next to him," Dawn said. "He just didn't give up. It was funny."

            "And why didn't I notice this?" Buffy asked.

            "You weren't paying attention," Dawn replied. "You were off in your own world most of the time."

            "I was just thinking about- stuff."

            "Bad stuff?" Lorna asked, concern showing on her face.

            "I'll tell you later. It's nothing urgent."

            "Where is everybody?" Dawn asked, looking around.

            "Scott and Jean are picking up Jean's family. Alex and I came to pick you two up."

            "Where is he?"

            "Probably feeding his face," Buffy snorted.

            "Anything wrong with that, Summers?" came a voice from behind them.

            "Alex!" Dawn charged towards him before she noticed the various bags and trays in his arms. Fortunately, she stopped in time.

            "I brought something for everyone," he explained, handing his burdens to Lorna. "Okay," he said in a mock-resigned tone, "now I'm ready."

            Dawn hugged him. He kissed her cheek and ruffled her hair.

            "It's been a while, Shorty," he smiled. "What's new?"

            "Don't ask."

            "That bad, huh?"

            "We'll talk later." They broke their embrace, and Alex turned to Buffy.

            "Go easy on me, huh?" he half pleaded.

            "I'll try," she responded. They hugged.

            "Well, not as hard as it could have been," he smirked. "What's happenin' Buff? Big badness on your end, too?"

            "Sort of. Nothing I can't handle, but as I've been saying, we should talk later, and elsewhere."

            "Gotcha. Shall we repair to the luggage reception?"

            "After you, cuz."

            They started off, Alex and Lorna holding hands- and food- and Buffy and Dawn following.

            When they picked up their baggage and found a relatively secluded place to sit and eat, the conversation resumed.

            "So, Buffy," Alex said, "when Scotty came back and told the Prof what happened, he put Scotty through a whole battery of tests."

            "Yeah," Buffy replied. "I've been meaning to call. Giles came up with a theory for why your powers went wonky."

            "It involves sunlight?"

            "Uh-huh. I take it that Professor Xavier came up with the same theory?"

            "Mm-hmm."

            "What theory is that?" Dawn asked.

            "Well," Lorna answered, "the Professor believes that because Scott and Alex absorb their energies from sunlight and basically just rechannel it, the vampires reacted as if they'd been struck by pure sunlight."

            "More like sunlight-concentrate," Buffy said. "Even direct sunlight takes a while to work. Believe me, I know. When those guys got hit, it was more like instant poof. And that's what Giles figured too. So let's get one thing settled right now," Buffy said, looking Alex and Lorna directly in the eye. "How much did Scott and Jean tell the Professor?"

            "They told him everything," Alex responded. "We do that when something major happens- it's usually safer that way."

            "I don't know how much the other X-Men know, or the New Mutants for that matter," Lorna added, "but everyone does know about you being the Slayer, Buffy. I hope you don't mind."

            "No big. I expected it, actually. It's not like anyone's gonna think that's strange."

            "You've got _that_ right," Alex laughed. "Ever since I became an X-Man, I've seen more weird things than I care to think about."

            "And you don't live on a Hellmouth," Buffy wryly responded.

            "So did Scotty tell you about some of the unusual types we've got?" Lorna asked.

            "Yuh-huh," Dawn said. "There's a guy that looks like a devil, a guy that looks like a blue furred ape, and an alien that's all black and yellow." She counted each off on her fingers.

            "That's them," Lorna laughed. "Though Hank would object to being called an ape."

            "Just wanted to make sure you were warned," Alex put in.

            "Don't worry," Buffy replied. "We traveled by air, remember? I couldn't bring any of my weapons, other than Mr. Pointy." She patted her jacket pocket. "What can I say? He's my security-stake." That got a laugh from the others.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

            On route to the Xavier School of Gifted Youngsters (Salem Centre, NY.).

The mood during the rode back was grimmer. Buffy filled Alex and Lorna in about the fact that Glory now knew that the Key was made human, but that she didn't know who it was. She decided to stay quiet about Dawn's truancy. That was between Dawn and her, and Buffy hoped that the matter was resolved. She did _not_ want to lose Dawn.

            "So he made a sex-bot of you?" Lorna asked, referring to Spike and the Buffybot. "That must have been awful."

            "It was most wigsome," Buffy shuddered.

            "You should have told me that Spike was- after you," Alex growled. "I'd have-"

            "I know," Buffy told him. "That's why I didn't."

            "He can't defend himself, Alex," Dawn put in, anxious to defend her best friend. "It would have been murder."

            "Yeah, and I bet that's stopped him in the past," Alex snorted from the driver's seat. "You said it yourself- he's only harmless because of that chip. If it ever gets it out, do you really think he'd hesitate to get his food fresh?"

            "Alex has a point," Lorna said slowly. "But on the other hand- Alex, how many evil mutants have the X-Men killed?"

            Alex was silent for a moment.

            "Touché," he finally said, conceding the argument.

            The car was silent for a while, until-

            "Here we are!" Alex said brightly, as he turned into the driveway of the mansion at Greymalkin Lane.

            "It's huge!" Dawn goggled as she took it in.

            Buffy hadn't ever seen anything like it. Dawn was right- it was huge. In fact, it was far larger than any house in Sunnydale, including Glory's villa and Angel's mansion. It was evidently old, but kept in great repair. 

            "How old is it?" Buffy asked.

            "It's been around for oh- sixteen months," Alex responded. Because she was in the back seat, Buffy he couldn't see his smirk.

            "WHAT?" both Summers sisters said.

            "The school's had to be rebuilt, at least once that I know of," Lorna told them, swatting Alex's arm. "That's what Mr. Clever here meant. The original building was around for at least a hundred years. The Professor could give you the exact details- it's his family's estate, after all."

            Alex parked the car in front of the house. They all got out.

            "I'll get the bags," Alex and Buffy said. They looked at each other.

            "Technically, you're our guest," Alex said.

            "Right now, you two are guests too, right?" Buffy responded. "And I can lift more."

            This went on for a few moments, until they heard someone clearing their throat. They looked at the source. There was Dawn and Lorna, carrying the luggage. The squabbling Summers' sighed, and took the bags from the smirking Lorna and Dawn. They went towards the doors, which opened on their own. Out came a tall, beautiful woman with mahogany skin, blue eyes and white hair pushing an older bald man in a wheelchair.

            "Hello all," Alex said. "Buffy, Dawn? I'd like to introduce two of the leaders of the X-Men. This is Ororo Munroe," he nodded to the lady, "and this," he nodded to the man, "is the famous Professor Charles Xavier. Professor, Storm? My younger cousins, Buffy" he cocked his head to Buffy, "and this is Dawn."

            "Hello, Buffy," the Professor said warmly as the handshaking began. "I trust the flight went well." *Welcome to my school for the Gifted, Buffy and Dawn Summers,* he sent.

            "Whoa," both sisters responded.

            "I see that the residual effects of this "Hellmouth" didn't accompany you," he said by way of explanation.

            "Oh," Buffy said. "Oh yeah! Jean said that you're a psychic, too."

            "That I am. And I understand that you were yourself, for a time."

            "Ugh," Buffy shuddered, remembering. "That's a long story."

            "I'm very interested in hearing it."

            "Alright. Professor Xavier, I'd like to thank you for letting Dawn and I stay here. This place is huge, but I guess it's a little crowded, what with all the other guests."

            "Nonsense," he replied. "Scott's like a son to me, and that makes you and Dawn my nieces. And please, just call me 'Professor' or 'Charles.' No need to stand on formality."

            "Okay, Professor." She turned to Storm, and shook her hand as well.

            "I'm very pleased to meet you, Buffy," Storm said. "Scott and Jean have told me so much about you."

            "Likewise," Buffy replied. "Alex called you Storm, right? Is that your codename?"

            "Yes it is. I can control the weather."

            "That's right!" Dawn exclaimed. "I've seen you on the news a few times. You're the one that shoots all those lightning bolts!"

            "Ah, there's more to it than just lightning, but yes, I can do that."

            "It's a pleasure to meet you," Buffy said again. "You're Jean's Matron of Honour, right?"

            "Yes I am. I hope that you two brought your white dresses."

            "Yes we did. How's everything going to go? I mean, how's it going to work?"

            "That's what the rehearsal is for, but we can talk about that later. I'm sure that Scott and Jean would like to see you. Follow us, please." Storm whirled the Professor around, and the group entered the mansion. It was as nice on the inside as it was on the outside.

            "Where is everybody, Professor?" Lorna asked as they walked.

            "Playing baseball out in the back," he replied.

            "What?" Alex asked in disbelief. "They started without me?"

            "They decided not to wait," Storm told him. "You were a longer than expected, and you didn't phone."

            "I knew I shouldn't have gotten lunch," Alex muttered.

            "Why aren't you playing, Storm?" Dawn asked her. "Oh! I'm sorry, Ms. Munroe."

            "It's alright, Dawn," Storm laughed. "We call each other by our codenames all the time. And please don't stand on formality- 'Ororo' is fine, as is 'Storm'- but not in front of civilians that don't know about us. I'm not playing because the teams are the X-Men vs. the New Mutants, and since many of the guests are former X-Men, all of whom wanted to play, so we had to draw lots. There are nine New Mutants, and thirteen X-Men and former X-Men, not counting Havok or Polaris, so four of us had to stay out. I lost, as did Kurt, Bobby, and Rogue."

            "Would it be alright to leave the grand tour until later, ladies?" the Professor asked. "I know Scott would very much like to show you around."

            "It's okay with me, Professor," Buffy said.

            "Me too," Dawn added.

            "Good. Alex?" he turned to his old pupil. "You know where we've placed Buffy and Dawn, so would you please take their luggage to their rooms."

            "Okay, Professor. I'll see you out back." Buffy gave her suitcase to Alex, who went off. The remainder went on.

            They went through a large dining hall and out a set of glass doors onto a spacious back porch. In the field, Buffy could see a baseball game being played. On the porch were a number of observers, seated at tables that had been pushed together, who were talking or calling out instructions to the players. The Professor got everyone's attention.

            "Everyone, I would like to introduce you to Scott's cousins, Buffy," Buffy nodded, "and Dawn," Dawn gave a small wave.

            "Buffy, Dawn, I would like to introduce you to Jean's parents, John and Elaine Grey, and to her niece and nephew, Gailyn and Joseph." The Grey's were older than Mrs. Summers had been, in their late forties or early fifties. Barring any extreme physical changes, looking at Mrs. Grey was like looking at a future picture of Jean. The children were between eight and ten.

            "Are you superheroes too?" Joseph asked them.

            "Joey!" The Greys scolded their grandson.

            "It's alright," Dawn said. "I'm not, but Buffy is."

            "I'm not a superhero!" Buffy protested. "I just- kill vampires."

            "Cool," Joseph breathed. The eyes of the elder Greys widened.

            "Vampires really exist?" Gailyn asked.

            "Oh, yeah," Buffy said.

            "This is Dr. Moira MacTaggart," the Professor said, referring to an auburn-haired woman about Giles' age. She gave the girls a warm smile and a handshake.

            "So this is the famous Slayer," she told them. "I cannae tell ye how glad I am to meet ye both. Scott's been going on about ye both for a while now."

            "Scott brags too much," Buffy said, a little embarrassed.

            "This is Amanda Sefton," the Professor said, referring to a blond woman about Scott's age, who smiled at them.

            "It's an honour to meet you, Buffy Summers," she said as they shook hands. "I've heard so much about you."

            "Scott's a talker, huh?"

            "Not from Scott. I'm a practicing sorceress. You're something of a legend already."

            "Really?"

            "Yes." She leaned in close to Buffy. "You've, ah, held the mantle of the Slayer longer than any of your predecessors, at least those in the past hundred years."

            "I guess I have." Ugh. Mortality-rate talk. As if she hadn't had enough of that from Giles. The Slayer came with a short lifespan, as all Slayers knew, but that didn't mean that they liked to talk about it.

            "And," Amanda said slowly, "my real name is Jimaine Szarados. I am Romany."

            Buffy stared uncomprehendingly.

            "A Gypsy," Amanda- Jimaine- clarified.

            "Oh," Buffy replied. "So, Jimaine, you knew Ms. Calendar?" A regret that Buffy would always have was the way she treated Jenny Calendar.

            "Janna was my cousin. I thank you for avenging her. And please, call me Amanda."

            Buffy only nodded. She didn't really avenge Jenny. In fact, she inadvertently helped cause the woman's death, not once, but twice.

            "And these are some of my X-Men," the Professor finished. "Rogue, Kurt Wagner codenamed Nightcrawler, and Bobby Drake, codenamed Iceman."

            "Hi," Rogue said simply as she shook their hands. She was an attractive young woman, a few years older than Buffy, really, with brown hair that had a white streak in it. With the exception of her face, she was covered from head to toe. Buffy realized- this must be the one that steals people's powers and can't control it. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

            "Likewise," Buffy replied.

            "Guten tag, liebchen," Kurt Wagner told them merrily, kissing their hands by way of greeting. This was the one that looked like a devil. He had dark blue fur that covered his entire body, black hair, and pointed ears. His eyes were a glowing, pupil-less yellow. That she had been warned about him was wholly of the good, Buffy decided. If she saw something that looked like him in Sunnydale, it was entirely possible that- Buffy put the thought away. Now was not the time to dwell.

            "I would like to add my thanks to Amanda's," Kurt said.

            "You knew Ms. Calendar too?" Dawn asked him.

            "Ja," he replied. "Amanda and I were raised together. I looked to Janna as an older, wiser cousin from a different clan."

            "You're a gypsy?"

            "I was raised by them."

            "Oh."

            "And I'm just plain Bobby," Bobby Drake said. He was a couple years younger than Scott, with brown hair and mischievous blue eyes.

            "What's your power," Dawn asked.

            Bobby smiled. He put his hands down on his table. When he lifted them, there were two perfect roses, made out of ice. He gave one to each Summers sister.

            "They'll melt soon," he warned.

            "They're beautiful," Buffy said, and meant it.

            "Well, I'm a beautiful guy. I can do more, but I'd ruin the threads, y'know?"

            "And cause a mess," Rogue put in.

            "Which is something he's good at," Lorna smiled.

            "You know it, babe," Bobby grinned. He turned to Dawn. "I guess I'd better start getting to know you, Dawn. I mean, I'll be walking you down the aisle in a couple days, and I'd hate to do so with a total stranger."

            "Huh?" Dawn stared. "Oh! You're a groomsman."

            "Yup."

            The group sat down on unoccupied seats. A few moments later, Alex joined them.

            "So who are we cheering for?" Dawn asked.

            "Well," Alex said, "the Professor is Switzerland, but the rest of us are cheering for the X-Men, for obvious reasons." 

            "We're all related to X-Men?"

            "Those of us that aren't X-Men or ex-X-Men," Bobby added.

            "Besides," Kurt put in, "we're losing. Our team needs all the support it can get."

            "WHAT?" Alex demanded, incredulously. "How the-," he stopped, remembering the presence of the children. "How on earth is that happening?" he said, in a strained voice.

            "The kids are on fire today," Rogue smiled.

            "Hey!" Dawn exclaimed. "Jean's going up to bat!" She stood up. "SWING, BATTER, BATTER, BATTER!" she yelled. Jean turned around, and waved.

            *Hello Dawn, Buffy* Buffy and Dawn heard her voice in their minds. *We'll talk after the game, okay?*

            "Okay!" Dawn called back. The Professor smiled.

            "When Jean sends to you, you can just think your answer back," he said. "She'll hear you. We don't want you to lose your voice, now."

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Sunnydale CA.- a few hours earlier.

"What does this do?" Glory asked, noticing that she was holding a round piece of what looked like Kyrellian crystal that was the size of her palm.

"It is the crystal that we will imbue the detection spell into, Your Most Beauteous Inquisitiveness," Jinx told her.

"Ah. Now tell me, dear, dear Jinx, what exactly was _Ben_ doing with it?"

"He, ah- he was about to smash it, Your-"

"And how did it get into his hand?"

"He took it from us-" Glory made a cutting motion with her hand. Jinx got the message.

Glory smiled at her little scabby minion ash she gave him the crystal.

"Jinxy, you're lucky I'm in a good mood. Otherwise, I'd eviscerate you. Now don't let this happen again."

"Oh no, Your Most Supreme Cruelness!"

Glory had long since tuned him out. Ben. He was becoming a problem. It was bad enough that he'd had the audacity to try to hide his knowledge of the Key from her. Now he tried to foul up her detection spell, and he'd almost succeeded! If she could only- but she couldn't so much as touch him, literally and figuratively. Anything that happened to him would happen to her, so having the minions torture him wouldn't help. Then again, her minions were incompetents, so they likely wouldn't do him much damage anyway.

She sighed. Her existence would be _so_ much easier if Ben was just her thrall like he was supposed to be. But _no_- at the moment of his birth, as she was cast into his infant body, the Powers That Be took direct action. Direct for them, anyway. They erected a wall between her consciousness and his. If it wasn't for the wall, Ben would be hers, body and soul. But _no_- Ben was an individual, and a highly independent one at that. It was sickening, living in his mind in his early years, watching as this horridly good person did wretchedly good things. She spent sixteen agonizing years, years that should have been a blink of an eye to a Goddess, watching him be a boy scout, helping old ladies across the street, getting kittens out of trees, and the like. She didn't dare take over and mess it all up for him, because once she started being active, she wouldn't be allowed to rest in his mind as she did. Once the possessions started, she would have to fight Ben for the body. While she would eventually win those battles, there was no _point_- she could contact her earthly minions, and those humans that had the good taste to worship her, and direct their actions in finding a way to get her out of her prison and home, where she could face those snivelling brothers of hers.

Finally, one of her human worshippers, known as Doc, made a great discovery- the dimension that she was bound to was the one that held the manifestation of the Key! Not only that, but she was on the very planet that held it! And, of course, he had a ritual that could release the essence of the Key, which would open the dimensional gateways and return her home. She would have only nine years before the stars entered into the right alignments for the ritual to open the gates to her home. More time than Glory needed, or so she thought. She emerged from Ben, and as her first meals, she devoured the intellects of his parents. She then had her minions dispose of them. Unfortunately, she lost control of the body soon after, and the next she knew of the outside world, she was with her loyal minions. Doc had altered the will of Ben's parents, and passed himself off as the boy's great-uncle, and took him in. Of course, when that was all done with, the Minions had let Ben know exactly where he stood. Ben's hatred of her, and of the situation he was in, stemmed from that time, as did the spell which caused any human that chanced to witness a body-switch to instantly forget it.

At the moment, Ben was her greatest threat. Well, her greatest present threat. The Knights of Byzantium were snooping around Sunnydale, but she could take care of them with great ease. The Slayer was slightly trickier, but as she only managed to escape Glory by the skin of her teeth every time they met, killing her would be easy once Glory knew who the Key was. Other threats were potential- the Asgardians and the Olympians came to this world from time to time. She was a God, but so were they, and in her weakened state- Glory inwardly shuddered. She'd never ever admit, but she'd get her ass kicked. And then there was Doctor, Doctor- Doctor Something, the current Sorcerer Supreme. Of all the six billion plus humans on the planet, he was the only one she truly feared. If anyone could find a way to separate her essence from Ben's body, it was him.

Glory felt great rage begin to build up. Was there no one on this stupid mudhole that realized how truly _difficult it was to be divine? All she wanted was her Key, so that she could go home. So what if this world would be sucked into the various HellDimensions? It's inhabitants should be honoured to do as much for the once and future almighty Glorificus!_

"What are you waiting for?" she yelled. "Get the fricking spell ready, already!"

As one, the minions said "Yes, Oh-"

"NOW!!!"

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

            Salem Centre, NY.

An hour later the game was over- and Rogue was right, the New Mutants were indeed on fire that day- and the spectators went to start making dinner while the players showered and changed.

            Dawn was stoked. In such a fancy place, she was expecting a fancy dinner, but they were taking advantage of the good weather and having a barbecue that evening. They were exactly her kind of people. Okay, she had to help, but hey- Buffy never let her make dinner before, and it was nice doing it. And, of course, the fact that she was with her family was solely of the good. Of course, it would have been perfect if they had Dad there. Hank Summers wasn't able to attend the wedding, due to a very important business conference that he couldn't get out of. Big surprise. And, of course, she knew that the Scoobies would love the place, and the people. She'd only met a few of the X-Men, but she already liked them a great deal. Bobby was a riot, and Kurt was pretty funny too. Ororo was like a Goddess- not a Hellskank like Glory, but a wonderful, loving, mother. And Rogue. She was sweet, but so sad, and Dawn knew why. She couldn't imagine not being able to touch anyone ever. And she thought she had it bad, not being real. And the Professor was the kind of principal that she wished she had. Tough, yes, but gentle and warm too- the kind of teacher you couldn't help but love. If only Mom could be there-

            A tear went down Dawn's cheek as she thought about Mom.

            "What is wrong, liebchen?" a voice came. It was Kurt.

            "Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about Mom. I wish she could be here."

            "Ah, but your mother is here, Dawn."

            "Huh?"

            "She is watching you right now, and she's upset that her youngest is unhappy at such a time."

            "How do you know that?"

            "Because she is in Heaven."

            "You believe in Heaven?"

            "Ja, I do. I would think that you do as well, living on a- a Hellmouth?"

            "That's why I'm not sure I do. I've seen demons, but no angels."

            "Oh, no? What about your sister and friends? How many lives have they saved?"

            "So the Scoobies are angels because they fight demons?"

            "No, because they protect people. There's a difference. Dawn," he paused for a moment. "Dawn, if my life has taught me anything, it's that love, as corny as this may sound to an American, truly does conquer all. It's our ability to love that makes each and every person on this planet. I've seen terrible things, Dawn- things of hatred and fear. I was almost a victim to them. But I've seen wonderful things, also- things of pure love. At the heart of it, we X-Men are all about love, and so, I suspect, is your Scooby Gang. God is love, I am told, and love exists, so-" he shrugged. "The logic may be spurious to a scientist, but I'm told that God doesn't believe in science." He grinned at that, and Dawn did too.

            "So if there's a God, then there's a Heaven too, right?"

            "Ja. Where else would God live? Now come, smile for your mother, and know that she's now smiling too."

            "Okay."

            "And when your done, you can help me with the barbecue."

            "Really? Buffy doesn't let me do that at home. She has that I can break something just by looking at it."

            "Ah. I was not aware that I now look like Buffy." He flashed Dawn a roguish grin. "Now liebchen, if you'll follow me, I'll show you how to work the beast that we call a barbecue."

            Dawn giggled, and linked arms with Kurt. "Lead on, good sir."

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

            Buffy smiled at her sister as Kurt led her off to the barbecue. She didn't hear what was said, but Dawn evidently liked it. It was good to have someone else give the pep talks around here. Now if Kurt could just convince her to never cut another class-

            "Is it hard, Buffy?"

            Buffy whirled around.

            "Oh, Professor! I'm sorry, I was just- well, I guess you heard."

            "I did," he nodded solemnly.

            "Dawn has a problem with truancy?"

            "I guess she does. Apparently, she has ever since Mom died. And I didn't even know." She sat on a nearby bench. "Why did I not know? I should've. I should've known she wasn't as good as she seemed. Is she that good an actress, or did I just not want to see it?"

            "You were going through a rather rough time of it yourself," he told her, and then he smiled. "You are so much like Scott, you know."

            "What do you mean?"

            "I mean that the two of you are firmly convinced that you must be in control of everything every second of your lives. You can't be, and in the depths of your mind you know it, but you both do your utmost anyway. It's admirable, but when you fail, and you there are times when you do fail, you flagellate yourselves mercilessly."

            "I'm the Slayer, Professor. I have to be in control. Of everything. At all times. If I'm not, people die."

            "They die anyway. The people of Sunnydale need a whole guardian, not one that is liable to crack when enough pressure builds. And it will- I've seen it happen several times. Something has to give, Buffy."

            "I know, I know, but" she stood up, "I have to be there for Dawn. I can't let her be taken away and put into some foster care home where they can't realize how special she is! She needs me!"

            "Is that the only reason," he asked her quietly.

            "No, no it's not. I need her too. You must think I'm horrible."

            "You need her because you love her, Buffy. And love may be many things, but never horrible."

            "I guess."

            "You will get through to Dawn, Buffy. In fact, from what I've seen, I think you already have. She loves you very much- and that's without any prying from me."

            "I hope you're right."

            The Professor didn't respond to that. He knew that he had given Buffy something to think about. Hopefully, she would draw the right conclusions.

            "So," he said, changing the subject, "I believe that you were psychic at some point."

            "I was. See, it was my Senior Year, and I was fighting a pair of mouthless demons, and-" Buffy and the Professor worked as Buffy told him all about her telepathic experience.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

            "See liebchen? It's not hard!" Kurt told Dawn as she used the barbecue.

            "If you say so," Dawn replied.

            "Well, I do." The two shared a grin.

            "And I say that I don't want my food burnt!" A voice came from behind her. All thoughts of barbecuing left Dawn's mind as she raced to hug Scott.

            "How've you been, kiddo?" he asked her.

            "Better. You?"

            "Busy." They broke the embrace. "It's good to see you."

            "Ditto."

            "Aren't you forgetting someone, Scotty?" Buffy called as she came over.

            "And who might that be, I wonder?" he asked as they hugged.

            "The cousin that could crush you into a pulp if you got her angry, maybe?"

            "Better not forget her, then." They broke the embrace. "How've you been, Buffy?"

            "Ah- I'll tell you later."

            "That bad?" Scott grew serious.

            "Sort of."

            "Aren't you both forgetting someone?" Jean asked as she joined the group. She proceeded to be mob-hugged by the Summers sisters.

            "Good to see you both, too," Jean grinned.

            "Likewise," Buffy said.

            "God, Jean, you must be so nervous!" Dawn said.

            "That's me- the big wreck." The embrace broke. "Have you two met everyone yet?" she asked.

            "Just the Professor, Ororo, your family, Moira, Rogue, Kurt, Amanda, and Bobby."

            "Well," Scott said, "it's time to fix that." He got everybody's attention.

            "Everybody? I think we all mostly know each other, but I don't think that you've all met my cousins." He shoved them forward. Dawn blushed. If she knew her sister, Buffy would be wondering if Scott would die slower if she eviscerated him or cut of his limbs one at a time.

            "The blond is Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, and the brunette is Dawn." The sisters received a number of waves and a few spoken hellos from the people that they hadn't yet met.

            "Girls, this is everybody." He began the pointing-out process.

            "The fellow standing next to Bobby is Hank McCoy." His codename was obvious, as he was the other blue furred fellow they'd been warned about. Dawn recognized him- he was a super-genius scientist who used to be an Avenger known as the Beast at one point.

            "And with them is Warren Worthington III."  Warren was a tall, very handsome man with very broad shoulders. Of course, Warren was commonly known to be a mutant too. The shoulder breadth was partly because of his immense wings. Dawn knew about him, too. He was a billionaire, and a former superhero who called himself the Angel, and your classic blond haired blue eyed hunk. And, apparently, at one point an X-Man.

            "Setting the table are Dani Moonstar, Xi'an (author's note- pronounced 'Shan') Coy Manh, and Sam Guthrie, three of our students." Dani was a Native American girl older than Dawn herself, but younger than Buffy. She was very beautiful, with copper skin, long black hair and smouldering brown eyes. Xi'an was about Buffy's age, and also very beautiful, with straight black hair and lovely dark eyes. Sam was cute, in a gawky way- about Dani's age, he was almost as tall as Scott was, and even skinnier. He had pale blond hair, and blue-grey eyes.

            "Getting the steaks ready are Sean Cassidy, Logan, Kitty Pryde, and Peter Rasputin, and his sister Illyana." Sean was a merry looking redhead with mutton chop sideburns and twinkling green eyes. He looked about Giles' age, or maybe a bit younger. Logan was a burly man of indeterminate age with wild black hair, large sideburns, and fierce looking blue eyes. He was easily the shortest man there, as he was about Buffy's height. Kitty was a slim young woman about her age, maybe a bit older, with long curly brown hair and impish brown eyes. Peter was just as muscled as Logan, only a year or two older than Buffy at most, and was easily the tallest man present. He had black hair, and smiling blue eyes, and more quite the hottie. Illyana, apparently his younger sister, looked to be about her age, and was of average height. She had straight blond hair, and blue eyes that seemed a little cold. She gave a small start when she looked at Dawn, but said nothing. Dawn felt a little cold. She'd seen that expression before, but Illyana didn't seem to be crazy.

            "The young lady who will helping with the barbecuing is Amara Aquilla." Amara was a stunning blond, about her age but taller, who seemed very- regal, somehow.

            "And the rest of them, the one's that somehow don't look busy when I know that they really are," Cyclops grinned, "are the rest of the students. They are: Roberto da Costa, Rahne Sinclair (author's note- pronounced Rain), Doug Ramsey, and Warlock." Roberto was a very cute athletic young man about her age, with curly black hair and fiery dark eyes. Rahne was maybe Dawn's age, or possibly a bit younger, with short red hair. Doug was a bit taller than Roberto, but not as muscled. He was blond, and had clear blue eyes. He seemed shy, but was also very cute. And then there was Warlock. He was the alien that she and Buffy had been told about. He was all black, with lines of yellow defining his body and giving him facial features. Dawn had never seen anything quite like him before, and she wondered if Buffy had, either.

            After the introductions, the girl named Amara came to join Dawn and Kurt.

            "Greetings, Dawn," she said. "I am Amara."

            "Pleased to meet you," Dawn replied. Amara sounded as regal as she looked. She certainly wasn't from the States- she didn't have an accent, but her diction was perfect to the point of almost being stilted. "Have you, uh, used this thing much? I haven't."

            Kurt laughed. "Dawn, Amara doesn't need to actually use the barbecue."

            "That is correct," Amara smiled. "My power allows me to tap into the planet's molten core and channel its heat through my body. See?" Amara removed the barbecues grill and touched the coals. They instantly lit on fire.

            "Cool," Dawn breathed. If only she could light things on fire- then Buffy would let her help with the Slaying! Memo to self- badger Willow and Tara even harder about learning magic. After all, if she was going to live in Sunnydale, she'd need some sort of self defence skills.

            "Do you not mean, 'Hot?'" Amara asked, eyes twinkling. They shared a laugh.

            The three set to work cooking the food.

            "So, Kurt, Amara, what's it like being superheroes?" Dawn asked after a while. The two mutants looked at each other.

            "It can be difficult at times," Kurt responded.

            "However, it is worthwhile," Amara added. "What is it like living surrounded by vampires and demons?"

            "Oh, it's- scary, and dangerous most of the time, but it's also a lot of fun- well, when I'm not being threatened by monsters or anything."

            "Does that happen often," Kurt asked.

            "Not too often. The things in Sunnydale all know who the Slayer is, they all know who her family and friends are, and they all know that Buffy's fighting gets a lot better when she takes it personally."

            Amara sighed. "I wish our nemeses had that same knowledge."

            "I bet you have a lot, huh?"

            "Oh, yes. Since I became a New Mutant, I have fought such things as robots, evil mutants, human bigots, alien beings, trolls-"

            "Oh we fought a troll, once. He was really tough- I was told."

            "I imagine that you have many stories, Dawn."

            "So do you. Wanna swap?"

            "I would love to. I know that the other New Mutants would be interested in hearing of the exploits of the Slayer."

            "Scott's a talker, huh?"

            "Actually, most of our information comes from Amanda and Illyana. They are both sorceresses, so they both know a great deal about what a Slayer is."

            "Great! I'll talk to Buffy, see if she wants to join in. What about you, Kurt? You have any good stories?"

            "I do, actually. Would you like to hear them?"

            "You bet! Y'know, Scott talks a lot about others, but never about himself."

            "Ja, and that is when he talks at all."

            Dawn laughed. It was good being around people that notice the same things that you did.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

            Sunnydale CA.- a few hours earlier.

            "All is ready, Your Amazing Magical Stupendousness!" Jinx told his mistress proudly.

            "Now _that is what I like to hear," Glory beamed as Jinx led her to where the ritual had been set up._

            "All has been completed, and only awaits the binding that you must perform, oh-"

            "Yeah, yeah," Glory said as she went to the Kyrellian Crystal. It now had a hole delicately bored into it, and looped through it was a thread made of the heartstrings of a newborn deer. Ah- sometimes, her minions knew just how to make something perfect even more so.

            Glory picked up the ancient spellbook that had been left open for her and began to chant the incantation. It was in a tongue so old only an immortal could remember when it was commonly used.

            Her voice went alternately fast and slow, catching the inflections of the words just so. The incantation was difficult, as befitted a powerful spell, one that could find you anything, no matter who or what tried to hide it, and then unerringly guide you to it.

            Finally, her voice rose to a crescendo, and the magic was done. She yelled out "Key!" Brilliant white light came all around her, and then it was gone. Glory looked down. The crystal was glowing. Success!

            She held the crystal up, and imperiously said, "Well _now would be a good time!" The crystal glowed brighter, and then shot a beam of light towards a wall. It showed an image of a mansion situated on a large estate. On the walls of the estate were a sign. It was a school, in- Salem Centre, Westchester County, New York?_

            "What?" Glory said as the image suddenly went away. "Show me again," she demanded. "Show me again!" But the crystal wasn't listening.

            One of her minions, Murk, came up beside her. "Oh, Most-"

            "What is it?" she demanded.

            "I copied down the address, Your-"

            "You did?" She grabbed the piece of paper from his hand and stared at it. It seemed correct- it got the New York part right, anyway. She turned to address her minions.

            "Check this out! The Slayer wouldn't let the Key skip town without her, so find all of them and see which ones are missing!"

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

            Dreg stealthily crept through the streets of Sunnydale. He was looking for the friends of the Slayer, and he would not let Her Most Trembleworthy Evilness down! He made his way to the campus of UC Sunnydale, the institution that the Slayer and some of her friends were attending.

            Dreg shuddered as he noticed that the campus was swarming with humans. He saw banners on the walls that explained the reason- they were evidently celebrating the diversity of human cultures. Let them celebrate, Dreg decided. None of those cultures would be around for long when her Amazing Genocidal Partyruiningness had her way. Now how to find the specific humans he was looking for?

            "I wonder what Buffy's doing right now?" came a voice that was all too close to him. Dreg hid in a nearby bush when- wonder of wonders- all of the Slayer's friends were walking by. There were the two witches, the ex-demon-who-stooped-so-low-as-to mate-with-a-human, said human, and the older human male that ran the magic shop. The questioner was the younger human male, the one that the ex-demon-who-stooped-so-low-as-to-mate-with-a-human was mating with.

            "Oh, she's probably at that big mansion hobnobbing with the X-Men," the redheaded witch said.

            "No, she's out in New York, buying us expensive souvenirs," the ex-demon-etc-etc said brightly.

            "You know, she doesn't have to buy any us anything, Anya," the blond witch told her.

            "No, just as long as she gets me something!"

            "So- how do we think that Dawn is doing?" the younger human male asked, evidently trying to change the subject.

            "Oh, I imagine that she is enjoying herself, and maybe even making a few new friends," the older human said. "You know, Buffy has all of you to lean on-"

            "And you too, G," the younger human male put in.

            "But Dawn doesn't have anyone that she can trust," the elder finished, evidently annoyed at being interrupted.

            "Yeah," the redheaded witch said, "I hope Dawnie's enjoying herself. She needs it."

            "And did you see Spike last night?" the blond witch said. "He was totally upset that they were going to New York." Dreg's eyes went wide. The Slayer took her sister to New York? All of her friends were still in Sunnydale, so that meant- Her Most Wonderful Destructiveness needed to know this, and as quickly as he could get it to her!

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

            Glory was thrilled beyond words to hear Dreg's news. She soon came to the same realisation that he did.

            "So the monks made the Key into the Slayer's sister!" Glory exulted, even as part of her kicked herself in Ben's balls. The girl was in the same room as Glory- within arms reach, even! - not once, but twice.

            "They knew that family was the one thing that the Slayer would do anything to defend, so they gave her a sister! They made her well- they gave her quirks, and friends, and a personality- and I didn't even feel reality shift when they made the girl! They did their jobs beautifully, which makes me all the smarter for seeing through their little game. Well look out, Slayer, 'cause here I come! I'm glad that you're hiding out with superheroes- you're gonna need them!"

            "Jinx!" she yelled. "Pack my bags! Murk! Book me a flight- and make it a crowded one. I'm super-hungry right now! Dreg! Gather the minions! I want them here a week ago yesterday!"

            Once more, in unison, the minions said "Yes, Your-"

            "NOW!" The scabby ones left to do their duties.

            Glory began to exult once more to herself, as she donned the crystal. Soon, she promised herself. Home was so near that she could taste it. Home- and all those that had ever sought to thwart her. Soon…


	6. Race Music

Chapter Five: Race Music

            Author's Note: the characters in this fanfic do not belong to me. They are the property of Mutant Enemy (Buffy and Co.), and Marvel Comics (X-Men/ New Mutants). 

Buffy-wise: This story occurs during Buffy S5. The prologue is post "Triangle" but pre "Checkpoint", and the rest is post "The Body." May veer off into AU- in fact, it probably will. 

Marvel-wise: Everything up to Uncanny X-Men #137 is canon. In this work, the Phoenix Entity left Jean after the battle in Uncanny X-Men #138. Also, this verse has been updated to 2000- well, this part of the timeline... you know what I mean. Also, the only other X- team at this time is the New Mutants. X-Men and the New Mutants- that's it.

Note: I _know_ I'm mucking with the Angel timeline somewhat, but this _is_ AU.

Somewhere in New York State.

Tranquility was a beautiful thing, seldom achieved, and even more seldom maintained for any length of time. The night was tranquil- there were few people on the highways, few animals still outside in the farmlands, and one did not have to strain to hear the crickets chirp.

All that changed when the plane crashed.

Glory emerged from the plane feeling energized. What was the line in that delightful war movie- oh yeah- she loved the smell of napalm in the morning. And the smell of smoke, burned flesh and wood, and oh, it made her homesick. The screams of those few passengers and crew that she hadn't brainsucked before the crash was music to her ears. Of course, the few sane survivors were now crazy, thanks to her. Anyone that came upon the crash site would find it full of corpses and lunatics. All in all, not a bad portent of the apocalypse, but she was more concerned with bringing the thing to pass than with warning people of it. She turned around, and waited for her minions to bring her luggage. If she was to travel, then it was to be in style. She was a goddess, after all- standards must be upheld.

The crystal around her neck was tugging her towards her Key. The tugging was constant ever since she donned it, but was growing more and more urgent as she neared her little Key. Soon, she would have it, and then, she would- NO! Not now! Not after she just fed! How the HELL-

Ben blinked as he looked around him. The last he knew, he was in the villa in Sunnydale in daytime. Now, he was in a field, in the middle of the night, and boy oh boy, Toto, was he not in California anymore. 

"Oh Your Most- Ben?!?" Jinx said as he came up to Ben. Ben could see the other minions milling about through the plane. His mind raced. Obviously, Buffy was smart enough to move Dawn somewhere, but Glory had somehow tracked them down. There was a crystal around his neck tugging him somewhere- probably towards Dawn. The plane crash meant that Glory had to go by airplane, and had made a pig of herself. But he'd never re-emerged so soon after she'd fed. It should have been a long time- Ben, do NOT look a gift horse in the mouth!

Ben ran. Between housing a God all of his life and keeping himself physically fit, he was fast. He was much faster than the minions, and soon he was both out of their sight, and away from the cars coming to search for survivors. Ben knew all too well what they would find- more people whose lives Glory ended, one way or another.

He paused and took a breath. Think, Benny-boy, think. You need some wheels, and a change of clothing, in that order. He sped off again in search of a vehicle- any vehicle. The minions would find him- they always did. But he intended to make them work for it. He prayed to a God- a better God than Glory, if such beings truly existed- that he would be able to buy some time for the Slayer and the Key.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Los Angeles, CA.

The Hyperion Hotel was once a populated building. It sang with life and light. But light has a way of creating shadows, or of attracting them. One such shadow slowly swallowed up all of the light, and left a place of darkness and evil. But even as light attracts shadow, so does shadow attract the light. The Hyperion is clean, now, and is home or office to people. Good people- servants of the Powers That Be. 

It was night. The inhabitants had been gone for a few days, but had returned, and were happy to be home. They even brought a guest. One of the people was a tall, apparently young man, opened the doors. His name- one of many- was Angel. He was followed by a young, beautiful brunette, who was dressed as an exotic princess, complete with a golden crown. She was Cordelia. A third was a tall man, older than the others, with black hair and glasses. Wesley. The fourth was a young man with a shaved head, who looked both tough and gentle. Gunn. The fifth, the guest, was a young woman with white clothes and dark hair. Her eyes were wide, and she was looking at everything around her as if she was seeing them for the very first time. Fred.

"Okay. Can I say it? I wanna say it," Angel said.

"Say what?" Wesley asked him

"There's no place like-"

"OH!" Cordelia yelled. The men looked at her, but Fred jumped and stared.

"What's wrong?" Fred asked.

"She's okay," Gunn told her. "She's just having a vision."

"Something's wrong," Angel said, beginning to worry.

"I agree. She's always been able to tell us what she sees. She isn't now." AT that moment, Cordelia fell. They raced to catch her.

But Cordelia was barely registering them. She was too engrossed in what the Powers were showing her.

//_A plane crashing.__ Inside there were a few people screaming, but the rest appeared not to notice. They seemed crazy, all but the ugly grey skinned demons and a stunning blond woman that was laughing._// The scene shifted.

//_The woman appears from the wreckage unharmed. She is surveying her surroundings with a hungry look, when suddenly she screams. And turns into a very handsome dark haired young man, who looks confused. One of the demons approaches the man. The two stare at each other for a moment, and the demon speaks. She only hears the name "Ben." Ben ran away from the wreckage, pursued by the demon, whom he quickly lost./_/ The scene shifted.

//_It is daytime. There is a mansion. And in the backyard, a war is going on. There are demons of all types everywhere. Fighting them are mostly humans, with a few demons mixed in. Wesley and Gunn were there, and so were Lorne and Fred. As was Buffy, and the other Scoobies, and Buffy mutant cousins and their girlfriends._// The scene shifted.

//_Inside the mansion, the blond woman approaches Dawn with a triumphant grin upon her face. But standing between Dawn are Angel, Spike, two werewolves, and a young blond woman. Angel, Spike, and the young blond are each holding swords. The older blond woman steps forward, and the people- Dawn's protectors- charge._//

Cordelia opened her eyes. She was on the couch in the lobby. Her head felt like it was on fire. Her friends were standing around her, concern written upon their faces.

"Glory knows that Dawn is the Key," she said simply. It took a moment to register.

"What?" Angel asked.

"Are you sure?" Wes asked.

"Who're Glory and Dawn?" Fred asked.

"I'll tell you later," Gunn- who was told all about the Slayer and her friends on the chance that they would need to come to L.A.- told her.

"Angel, call Lorne," Wes said, falling into command mode. "Gunn, get Cordelia an aspirin, and I'll call Rupert. Let's go!"

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

If it was one thing that Lorne hated, it being called after a particularly rough time. And times couldn't get rougher than he had in the past couple days. And now he was being called.

He picked up the phone, preparing to give the caller a piece of his mind.

"Lorne?" the voice asked. It was Angel.

"Angelcakes? Long time, no hear!" Lorne said, somewhat sarcastically. Not even a half-hour passes and he needs me, the Pylean thought to himself.

"What do you know about a being named Glorificus?" Angel asked him.

Lorne went utterly still. Glorificus? No, he had to be hearing wrong. Angel couldn't have just said- Glorificus.

"I'm sorry, can you say that name again?"

"Glorificus. Glory, for short. What do you know about her?"

"I know that if she comes your way you should run and hide. Champion or not, she's _way_ out of your league."

"Not an option. Cordy just had a vision. What do you know about the Key?"

"The Key Between the Dimensions?" Lorne was aghast. "Does she have it?" Leave for a few days and the planet just goes to Hell.

"No, but she knows where it is. Cordelia just had a vision, and we were all in it."

"Protecting the Key?"

"Yup."

"I'll get right over," Lorne sighed. "I presume that you know where it is."

"It's either in Sunnydale or New York."

"How did it get here? The Monks of Dagon- you do know about the Monks, right?- operate out of eastern Europe."

"Very long story. I'll tell you in the car or on the plane."

"And just how do you think I'll be allowed on a plane?"

"You'll be with me in storage."

"Great- first class travel," Lorne muttered. "I'll be with you soon, bubbelah."

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Sunnydale, CA.

Rupert Giles was just about to start a late night cup of tea when the phone rang. Giles cursed, and went to answer it. If it was a solicitor, than he or she was about to get what for, as only the Ripper could give it.

"Hello?"

"Rupert? It's Wes."

"Wesley?" Giles was surprised. Why would Wesley be calling him? Unless, something happened to Angel or Cordelia.

"Rupert, Cordelia just had a vision." Wes was silent for a moment. "Glory knows," he finally said. "She's going for Dawn."

Giles' heart fell as Wes proceeded to relate Cordelia's vision.

"Bugger," Giles swore, quiet but heartfelt.

"No argument here. Where is Dawn."

"She and Buffy are in New York at her cousin's wedding. I'll alert Buffy and the others."

"Now all we have to do is co-ordinate a flight."

"I've got that handled, actually," Giles responded, looking for a certain piece of paper he kept by the telephone. It had the times of all flights to New York from Sunnydale.

"There's a flight from Sunnydale with a connector to New York that leaves in two hours. It's a red-eye, so it shouldn't be too crowded. I hope."

"Tell us if it's full. There will be six people on this end, but I think that Angel and Lorne will be in the baggage."

"And there are six of us here, as well. Spike will be in baggage as well, if I know him. Hopefully he and Angel won't kill each other on the way."

"Agreed."

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Salem Centre, NY.

It was late at night on the eastern seaboard. Most of the inhabitants of the mansion had long since turned in. All, that is, except for the New Mutants, Kitty Pryde, and Dawn Summers, who were still exchanging stories. The process began after dinner, when the Summers sisters were shown around the mansion, and general conversation had broken out. Given the mutual curiosity held over what a Vampire Slayer did and what a superhero did, tale swapping had begun. Buffy retold the story of her telepathic experience, the X-Men told of some of their battles against the Sentinels, Buffy countered with Adam and the Super-Slayer, the X-Men responded with some of their epic battles against Magneto, and on and on. Finally, the older ones turned in, but the younger ones decided to keep going, just moving the party to the rec room. After all, teenagers were used to keeping long hours.

"So there I was with some of my friends in the Sunnydale Mall," Dawn was saying, telling the New Mutants and Kitty about the Judge, "and I feel a little funny. I don't know why, and suddenly it stops. I hear a scream, and I see this huge blue demon at the entrance. He's got a crossbow bolt in his chest, and he's surrounded by vamps. He said something like, "You're a fool. No weapon forged can stop me." I look around, and I see Buffy, standing on a yoghurt stand, holding a crossbow. And she says, "That was then." She puts the crossbow down, and she- and I swear to God this happened- she picks up a rocket launcher-"

She was cut off by some of the New Mutants, saying things like "No way!" or "Okay, _now_ I _know_ you're making this up!"

Rahne Sinclair pounded the ground with her fist. "Och," she said, "let her finish. You were saying, Dawn?" Rahne was captivated by the Slayer's exploits. 

"Thanks, Rahne. Where was I? Oh, yeah. She picks up this rocket launcher and says, "This is now."  And he's like, "What's that do?" And people are running everywhere, and she shoots the thing. BOOM! Pieces of Judge all over the mall!"

"What did y'do then?"

"Well, I went to the other Scoobies and helped them pick up pieces of Judge- who was very, very dead, by the way. I had to do a _lot_ of explaining to mom after that one. See, that was before she knew about Buffy being the Slayer, but I knew. I said that I got separated from everybody because of the panic. She bought it."

"The Judge was destroyed by a rocket launcher?" Illyana asked. "Of course- 'no weapon forged'- but a rocket launcher isn't forged, and the moron was too stupid to realize that people have come a long way since he was torn apart! That was brilliant!" Despite the look that Illyana gave Dawn when they were introduced, the two found that they had a great deal in common, such as a mutual knowledge of magic and demons. Still, every once in a while, Illyana still looked at Dawn, almost like she could somehow tell that Dawn wasn't real. It worried Dawn. Amara had said that Illyana was a sorceress as well as a mutant. How come she could recognize that Dawn was different when Willow and Tara and Amanda couldn't? Or was it all just in Dawn's head?

"Oh, that's nothing," Kitty laughed. "The X-Men have this jet that we call the Blackbird, and- well, the first year I was here, I was all alone at Hanukkah, and the mansion was invaded by this monster! I think it was a demon, but it looked like something out of 'Alien.' Anyway, there this thing was, chasing me all over the mansion, and I-" She was cut off by the ringing of the phone.

"I'll get it," Doug Ramsey said. "You keep going, Kitty." He really liked the story, but he'd heard it before, after all.

"Thanks Doug! So anyway…"

Doug went over the phone.

"Hello?" he asked. Ordinarily he'd give someone a piece of his mind for calling so late, but given that he was supposed to be in bed when in reality he was not, he wasn't in a position to scold.

"This is the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters?" came the voice of a British man. 

"Yes it is. How may I-"

"I need to talk to Buffy. It's urgent!" the man certainly sounded worried.

"Um are you Mr. Giles?" Doug asked, hoping that that was the name of Buffy's Watcher.

"Yes I am. Now may I please speak to Buffy?"

"Buffy's in bed right now, but Dawn's right here. Would you like to speak to her?"

"Yes," Mr. Giles responded after a moment. "Yes, that might be best."

"One moment please, sir." He turned to his friends. "Dawn," he called. "It's Mr. Giles."

Dawn took on a worried look. Why would Giles be calling here, unless- she got up, and quickly took the phone. 

"Giles?" she said to the phone as her new friends waited for her to return so Kitty's story could continue. After a brief moment, they heard her gasp. Looking at her, they saw that her face was pale, and that tears were building up in her eyes.

"No," she said. "No no no…"

Sam and Dani stood up, and approached her.

"What's wrong, Dawn?" Dani asked her. Dawn didn't seem to notice. Suddenly she turned her attention back to the phone. After a moment, she looked up at them.

"Could one of you guys please wake Buffy up? It's important."

"Ah'm on it," Sam told her. "Anythin' you want me to tell her?"

"Yes!" Dawn said, a little emphatically. "Tell her that Giles is calling, and tell her that Glory knows."

"Giles is calling and Glory knows," he repeated. "Gotcha." He shared a look with Dani, his co-leader of the New Mutants. What was Dawn talking about?

Minutes later, Sam followed Buffy as she raced to the rec room. Buffy practically grabbed the phone from Dawn. "Giles" she practically demanded, "How does she know?"

The New Mutants looked at their co-leader.

"What's going on, Sam?" Dani asked him.

"Ah don't know, but when I gave her the message, Ah practically had to jump out of her way!"

"It sounds serious," Illyana said. The sorceress frowned. Glory, Glory… that sounded very familiar, but she didn't know why.

"Could it be some kind of vampire trouble?" Xi'an asked. Not for the first time, she was very glad that her siblings didn't live in the mansion.

"Ah, she can handle it," Roberto put in. Then he smiled. "I almost hope they come here. I've never beaten on a vampire before."

"Self believes there is more to it than that," Warlock said, slowly. "Self does not believe that a simple problem would be enough to get SelfriendDawn and SelfriendBuffy so worried."

"I think Warlock's right," Doug said.

"Big surprise," Roberto muttered.

"Of course Warlock's right," Rahne said before her friends could get into yet another fight. "The lady's faced demons. Whatever this 'Glory' is, it's obviously worse than a demon."

"But what exactly is the matter?" Amara asked. "That seems to be the point. And that is something I would very much like to know. I do not believe that Buffy would leave Sunnydale, even for a few days, if there was a great deal of trouble."

"Whatever it is, it must be recent," Kitty added. "Look at Dawn. She was upset when this Mr. Giles gave her this message about this 'Glory.' She was upset, but she wasn't surprised."

"That's because I was almost expecting it." All eyes turned to Dawn.

"Dawn!" Dani exclaimed. "We're so sorry, we didn't-" 

"I know," Dawn said. She was crying steadily. "I'm the one that should be sorry. One of my friends got hurt because of me. I don't want it to happen to any more. I shouldn't have come here. I'm so sorry." She started crying in full force. Her friends watched, very awkwardly.

"Look," Sam said, stepping into 'big brother' mode, "Ah don't know what's goin' on, and Ah don't know what this 'Glory' is or what's eating you, but if you're in trouble, well, Ah think Ah can safely say that you can count on us, whatever your problem is."

"Count on it," Dani said. "Whatever it is that's after you, we'll help take care of it. We all know what it's like to be hunted."

"Besides," Roberto added, "You may not be a mutant, but you're definitely a freak. Hey, so are we. We freaks stick together, don't we?"

From her conversation with Giles, Buffy looked up, and saw each of the school's students talk to Dawn. She smiled- it looked like her sister finally found Xanders and Willows of her own. She only hoped that Dawn would able to stand by them as much as they were going to stand by her.

"So what's the plan, Giles?" she asked him.

"Well, before I called you, I called Willow and Tara. They agreed to notify Xander and Anya, track down Spike, and enquire after tickets. Right now, I suggest you wake your cousins and the Professor and give them the news."

"Right." She said nothing for a moment. "Giles, how will this turn out?"

"The way it always does, I suppose- we kill the villain, and you help blow something up."

Buffy laughed. "I needed that. Thanks, Giles. I guess I'd better let you go. Bye."

"Goodbye, Buffy."

Leaving her sister alone with her friends, she headed off to the bedrooms. She was grateful that Scott and Jean told them where their room was- waking everyone else first up would be awkward.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Somewhere in Pennsylvania

Somehow, Ben just knew that it would be dawn soon. He didn't really know how he knew- maybe it was a subconscious knowledge that anyone that lived in Sunnydale had, even if they know the truth about the small, relatively young town that caused it to have twelve relatively large cemeteries. 

Ben drove as fast as he could without being noticed and pulled over for speeding. After all, he didn't want to delayed, and he didn't want any cops to discover that the car he now drove, hell, even the clothes on his back, were stolen. He remembered the poor fellow back in New York state, who pulled over and got out before he noticed that the running figure in a dress wasn't a woman in distress. And they said chivalry was dead. Of course, all chivalry got the poor fellow- who was Ben's size and build- was a premature visit to Dreamland and a loss of everything he had on him, except his briefs and his wallet.

If Ben let his mind drift, he imagined that he could almost hear Glory raging in his mind. But that was nonsense- they were two completely separate beings, that shared one body. He put that thought out of his mind, and concentrated on getting as far away from the Key as possible. If the crystal tugging on his neck was an indication, Dawn was to the northeast. That was why he headed southwest.

Some time later, it came. His world began to go dark. He barely had time to pull over before she emerged. His last thoughts as he fell into darkness were "Oh Buffy, oh Dawn, I managed to buy you some time, I hope it's enough. I'm so sorry…"

Glory looked around at the car she was in. She then looked at her surroundings. And then at her clothes. The crystal around her neck was tugging even harder than it did at the crash site, which meant that she was further away from her incarnated Key than she was before.

Glory screamed. Ben! While she was forced off into her own world, where she couldn't do anything but contemplate the only being in the universe worthy of adoration- Herself, naturally- Ben did it to her AGAIN! And her minions had allowed it! Huffily, she waited for said scabby beings to come and get her. And for their sakes, they'd better have been right behind Ben!

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Sunnydale and Los Angeles CA., en route to New York

Even in the middle of dark times, life sometimes gives you small mercies. One such was that the red eye flight from Sunnydale to New York was practically empty. The Scoobies had free reign on where they sat, which they utilized once the crew of Angel Investigations boarded. Conversely, the dearth of passengers made it tough for Spike, and later Angel and Lorne, to hide.

The plan was to wait a half hour after takeoff from L.A. before the exchange of notes, via walkie talkie, began. Angel and Spike spent much of the time pointedly not talking to each other, with Lorne more than filling the silence. That lasted until Angel got a good look at Spike's face. He was sitting with his back to them, but turned around, and lit a cigarette. That was when Angel could see the bruises.

"What did that to you?" he asked, cutting Lorne off. It took a lot to hurt a vampire that badly.

Spike snorted at him, and quietly began to sing a few bars of "My Way." Angel and Lorne shared a look. When one wanted to keep a secret around Lorne, singing was very foolish.

"That was a very brave thing you did," Lorne said after Spike was done.

"What do you mean?" Spike asked, a little angrily.

"Letting her torture you rather than tell her what she wanted. That takes a rare kind of strength, not to mention love."

Angel's eyes widened. He put things together very quickly- so Glory tortured him and he kept his mouth shut. But why? Angel mentally flashed back to his last visit to Sunnydale. He remembered how close Dawn and Spike were. He remembered Spike's whispered promise to Joyce. He remembered the way that Spike added the part about not allowing any harm to come to Dawn's family. Then it all fell into place.

"You're in love with Buffy, aren't you?"

"What?" his Child's Child asked him, laughing. "Angelus, I think you've finally lost your mind!"

"You kept your mouth shut about Dawn. And, the last time we saw each other, I heard you make a promise to Joyce."

"That explains it. I _always_ keep my word, Angelus. I like the Platelet, and Joyce was the only one of the Slayer's crew that treated me decently."

"If you say so." Angel knew Spike better than either of them would have liked. He did not believe him.

"Well, I do." Spike was silent for a moment. "I mean, do you think that every vampire that she doesn't stake after knowing her for five seconds falls head over heels for her?"

"Then why haven't you killed her?" Angel asked, 

"Remember the chip?"

"So it would hurt you. Big deal. It would stop sometime, and she'd still be dead."

Spike opened his mouth to reply, but hesitated. That convinced Angel. He grabbed Spike by the lapels of Spike's leather jacket.

"If you go near her…" Angel growled, entering vamp-face.

"You'll do what, exactly?" Spike vamped-out himself. "Peaches."

"Hey, fellas," Lorne began.

"I'll stake you myself," Angel said, ignoring his friend.

"If that was what the Slayer wanted, then why didn't she do it when she found out, hmm?"

"Boys, boys, please," Lorne said, approaching them. "We're on the same side here, remember? None of us wants a certain Goddess to get her hands on the Key?"

That convinced the vampires. They backed down, and entered human face. They retreated to their original positions.

"Look," Lorne went on. "I can tell that you two have had a big hate-on for each other for, oh, ever since he," he jerked a thumb to Spike, "was made, but let's not forget the mission. You may hate each other, but remember Dawn. You both love her, right? Well, she needs you both. The Powers said so."

The vampires glared at each other.

"Truce?" Angel grudgingly asked.

"Only for my Little Bit, but yeah, truce" Spike responded, equally grudgingly.

"Perfect," Lorne said. "Now, I think it's almost time to start our planning session with our first class flyers."

Up top…

Giles spent much of the time from the takeoff from L.A. glancing at his watch, while the L.A. bunch detailed their Pylean adventure to the Scoobies. Giles would normally have been fascinated, and asking many questions, as few Watchers ever experienced dimensional travel firsthand, but he was understandably preoccupied. He did take some time to analyze the only two he hadn't met before, namely, Fred and Gunn. He wasn't worried about Gunn- anybody that was a demon hunter for as long as he said he was could more than handle him-or-herself. Fred seemed, well, less in touch with reality than Anya was. It was understandable, of course- being enslaved in a demon dimension for five years would do that to anyone. But both Cordelia and Wesley said that she could handle herself, and their word was good enough for him. 

He took a moment to think about just how much the two of them had changed since they left Sunnydale. Cordelia used to be archrival to his children, until she became their ally, and later, their friend. She once came across as a shallow, vapid, beauty queen, but she had a core of strength and intelligence that she kept well hidden. Her association with the Scoobies forced her to reveal her true self to the world. Her association with Angel continued the process, and now Cordelia Chase stood as a capable person, who endured great pain for the sake of strangers. She was a thoroughly admirable young woman, one that Giles was proud to call friend. 

And Wesley… Giles' former rival changed a great deal himself. When Wes came to Sunnydale, he was pompous, insufferable, arrogant, and something of a sheep. Giles could barely stand him, but never told anyone the real reason why. Oh, Wes' behaviour and the reasons for his coming would have been enough for anyone, but Giles had very personal reasons as well. In Wes, Giles saw the young man that he might have been had he capitulated to his destiny earlier than he did. In short, as Willow might put it, Wesley equalled Giles minus the Ripper. As much as he greatly regretted the Ripper, without him he wouldn't be the Watcher that he was today. Since Wes was fired, he was forced to mature, and in the process he left his pomposity and arrogance behind. The two of them now had a great deal in common- they were able to make decisions that their friends and co-workers could not. Wes, too, had become someone that Giles was proud to call friend.

Finally, it was time for the conferring to begin. Giles and the others activated their walkie talkies, and placed them where they could be accessed but not easily seen.

"Can you hear me?" he asked.

"Loud and clear," came Angel's voice.

"Good."

"Lorne," Wes asked, "what do you know about Glorificus?"

There was a sigh from the other end of the walkie talkies.

"I'm glad you're all sitting down. This is pretty bad, and pretty long."

"Tell us everything," Giles said. "Anything could be important."

"If you want. Okay, where to start…" He paused for a moment.

"Glorificus is so bad, she's even known in Pylea. The priests are terrified of her- in fact everyone was. Everyone but her little cult- and she had one. Her two brothers also have cults in Pylea, but hers was the biggest."

"Brothers?" Willow asked.

"They're supposed to be almost as bad as she is," Fred put in. "The three of them are kinda like three Pylean Satans."

"So they rule over Tarkna?" Gunn asked.

"No, but they're seen as being even worse. I don't know the details, but I do know being one of their cultists is seen as being almost as bad as mating with cows- humans," Fred hastily corrected. 

"Yup," Lorne said. "Except about twenty five years ago, Glorificus' cult was all but destroyed."

"Why?" Wes asked.

"Well, it seems that Glory was getting a little too powerful for her britches. Her brothers feared that she was going to kill them and take over as sole ruler of their HellDimension. They decided to attack her first."

"Did she really?" Tara asked. "Want to take over, I mean."

"Probably. That's what evil deities like to do," Lorne responded. "Anyway, twenty-five years ago, the war ended, and obviously she lost. Most of her cults were completely destroyed, or at least decimated. Her brothers were greatly weakened themselves, and they only barely beat her, so they were too weak to destroy her outright. So they settled for the next best thing- banishment.

"They cast her out, and by chance she landed in this dimension. The only thing I know from then is that she got trapped in the form of a newborn male- probably this 'Ben' that the Princess saw."

"It was eerie," Cordelia shuddered. "One moment, she was a blond woman, then she was a hot guy with black hair who was wearing a dress."

"I can imagine. Well, anyway, a lot of people have been trying to find out who the poor sap that got stuck with her is, but no one has."

"Why?" Xander asked. "I mean, as long as Glory's the problem, who cares about the guy that's got her."

Lorne was silent for a moment. "Because even though she's just a shadow of her former bitchy self, she's still incredibly powerful. When she emerges, she's invulnerable, and super strong. She'd make a great ally if someone made her the right offer, and tracking down her host is like tracking down the lady herself. Same for people that want her gone. Her host is as vulnerable as the average human, and if he goes…"

"You mean they'd just kill the guy that's got her? That's nuts! What if the guy's an innocent? I mean, Cordy said he even ran from the minions. It'd be murder!"

"It would also be necessary, Xander," Giles said. "There is no guarantee that this 'Ben' is an innocent, and even if he were, how can you weigh one life against the entire world?"

"Sacrificing an innocent person is wrong, Giles," Angel's voice came from the walkie talkie, firmly but very quietly. "Even to save the world."

"Better one life than the entire world," Wesley said, matching Angel's tone.

"Who are we to make that decision?" Willow asked.

"Are you people stoned?" Spike's voice was incredulous. "If killing one person saved a whole bunch of people from dying, how can that not be a fair trade?"

"Spike," Angel said slowly, "if the Scoobies followed that reasoning, neither of us would be here right now."

"Would I?" Anya asked quietly from her seat beside Xander. She grabbed his hand, and squeezed it very tightly.

"Maybe it wouldn't come to that," Tara said. "I mean, if we could take Ben to the Sorcerer Supreme, then maybe Dr. Strange could find a way to separate the two, and send Glory packing. I mean, I hear that he knows all the superheroes."

"He wouldn't even have to do that," Anya put in. "Just get Thor to give her a few whacks of Mjolnir. Hey, he's a God, she's a Goddess, she's been weakened, so she'd be hamburger, right?"

"If Glory didn't emerge before Dr. Strange could separate them," Wes said. "Which brings us to another thing we need to know- what makes Glory take over?"

"I can guess," Anya said. All eyes turned to her.

"Well, it seems that Glory and Ben are kind of like two sides of the same coin. It's a bit like demonic possession, except Glory isn't a demon. She should be in complete control of the body all the time. Or she should at least have Ben be her little hound dog. It seems that he's not, and we know that she's weakened, so she doesn't control him like she ordinarily could, so maybe she has to fight Ben for the body."

"But Ben's human, and Glory's a God," Xander asked. "How can he fight her?"

"Well, she's a brainsucker," Anya said. "I guess that she needs mental energy the way we need food. Maybe she just shuts down to conserve her energies, or maybe Ben can take over if she's really distracted."

"That actually makes sense," Giles said.

"That's one for the resident demon expert," Xander said proudly, giving Anya a large grin, which she returned. "Smart chicks are the best!"

"And you just figured that out now?" Willow asked. The two shared a smile.

"Enough about Glory," Spike said. "Hey, Greenie! What d'you know about my Little Bit?"  
  


"The Key? Well, _I _know a fair bit about it, but I don't think that too many folks in this dimension would. You see…"

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Salem Centre, NY.

"You see, most of what I know about the Key comes from Belasco's writings, and he knew what few others in this dimension do," Illyana told everyone.

"Well?" Buffy asked. After Buffy roused Scott and the Professor, they called a general meeting, in which Buffy told the truth about Dawn. Illyana, who knew about Glory- or as she knew her, Glorificus- from Belasco, had a brief fit ( "_Do you have any conception of what you just brought down on us?!? Do you?!?_"), and proceeded to tell all that she knew about the HellGoddess. Then Dawn asked if Illyana knew about the Key. Illyana did- and once more, her source was Belasco.

"This is also a long story," Illyana grumbled, taking another look at Dawn. She could not believe that she missed the fact that Dawn was the Key! Some Mistress of Limbo I am, she thought to herself. I can't even recognize pure dimensional energy when I see it. Illyana ignored the fact that many others didn't recognize Dawn for what she was, because they weren't rulers of other dimensions and weren't supposed to.

"When the Dimensions were first separated, the Powers That Be recognized that they were eventually going to bleed together again unless some action was taken. So, they created the Key Between the Dimensions. The Key was the embodiment of dimensional energy. Its creation solidified the barriers, and although there are the occasional thin spots, like the Hellmouth, they are mostly strong. The Key also radiates dimensional energy, kinda like a star radiates heat and light, which allows the barriers to be opened. I don't know the exact reasons, but the fact that the barriers are allowed to be opened is what keeps them strong. I know it's illogical, but hey- it's magic.

"But this created a whole new problem. The Key manifested itself as green energy. The manifestation could be taken, and used to bring the barriers down. So, the Powers took direct action- they sent the Key to a random dimension, and erased all knowledge of the Key from that dimension.

"But just from this dimension?" Buffy asked.

"Yup. Everyone else knew about it, but didn't know where it was hidden. The general rule was that if you knew about the Key, the embodiment was not in your dimension."

"So how come this Belasco knew about it?" Dawn asked.

"Belasco is the servant of some very nasty beings called the Elder Gods. Agamotto, a wizard who lived a really long time ago, bound them away from this dimension, and they've been looking for a way back in."

"Let me guess," Buffy said, "they're beyond sin, and the darkness itself fears them?"

"No, that's the First Evil," Illyana replied. "You've fought the First Evil?" She demanded incredulously.

"We've met," Buffy replied. "We didn't fight, but she- it went into the whole 'I am evil' riff."

"I see," Illyana replied, a little shaken. "Well, the Elder Gods aren't quite as bad, but they come close. And they knew that this dimension holds the Key, so they always let their servants about it. I mean, if the Key can break barriers the Powers Themselves erected, then a barrier a lone mortal made would be a snap to bring down."

"So why did Belasco try to use you to bring the barriers down instead of finding the Key?" Peter asked her. He was the only one in the room generally believed to have the right to bring _that_ up.

"Because the Key was in hiding," Buffy said before Illyana could respond. "The Order of Dagon had it."

"She's right. The Monks of Dagon did a very good job of hiding it. No one knew where it was, but a lot of people looked."

"Like these Knights of Byzantium?" Dawn asked.

"You've met the Knights?" Illyana asked.

"I have," Buffy told her. "They knew I had the Key. They tried to kill me."

"What did you do?" Scott asked.

"Kicked their asses and sent them packing." She turned to Illyana. "How did they know?"

"Finding the Key has been their goal for over a thousand years. They send an agent to respond to every rumour of its hiding place, no matter how spurious. I'm guessing they sent one of their spies to Sunnydale, he found out about Glory, and the Order took notice.

"In a way, the Knights are an important part of your history, Dawn. About fifteen or sixteen hundred years ago, a servant of the Elder Gods somehow managed to bring written information about the Key into this dimension. Specifically, rituals of how the Key could be used to break down the dimensional barriers. The spells ranged from how to use the Key to directly open one barrier to how to use it to bring them all down. The Powers dispatched two mages to face this guy. They destroyed him, and his writings, and then they fought about what to do with the Key. One of them, Livia of Byzantium, argued that the manifestation should be sent into another dimension. The other, known only as Dagon, argued that it should be protected and used for good. Dagon ran off with the Key, and founded an Order to protect it after he died. Livia was very pissed at this, so she founded an Order to seek and transport, but their mission eventually became seek and destroy. I'm sure you can guess which became which."

Illyana's suddenly looked speculative. "I don't know if I should say this, as it's only a rumour, but…

"Some people believed that the servant of the Elder Gods began to transcribe the rituals that he brought back, just in case something happened to him and his writings before he freed his masters. He only had time to transcribe the ritual that would collapse all the barriers before he was killed. His apprentice fled with the book, and kept it against the time when a servant of the Elder Gods found the Key. What is known is that the servant had an apprentice, and she was never accounted for. Like I said, it's only a rumour, but it's the only way I could see Glory knowing how to use the Key. Unless Belasco's writings are very wrong, Glory's more interested in power than knowledge. I don't think she'd waste her time learning how to use the Key if she didn't think she'd ever get her hands on it. Also, she isn't exactly supposed to be the brightest God in the heavens."

"I'd believe _that_," Buffy snorted.

"So, you're saying I can be used to basically destroy the universe," Dawn said neutrally.

Illyana gave Dawn a very sympathetic look. "It's possible, Dawn."

"Well, we've saved the universe a few times, liebchen," Kurt told her. "Doing it again shouldn't be so difficult if it comes to that, eh?" he asked his friends jovially. The other X-Men nodded.

"Aye," Sean said. "Take me word for it, Dawn- it's easy after the first few times."

"And it will _not_ come to that," Ororo said.

"That's right!" Doug exclaimed. "If this Glory comes here, we'll kick her ass!" He suddenly blanched, and looked around at the X-Men. "Won't we?" he asked, chagrined.

"Our young colleague may be overly ebullient," Hank said, "but I believe that he does indeed speak for all of us."

"The X-Men protect their own," Jean said.

"And- like it or not- you're family," Alex finished.

"Thank you," Buffy said, sincerely. "I just wish that-," she paused. "You know, it's fair to say that that goes both ways, so if any of you have demon trouble, or any kind of trouble, just come to Sunnydale."

Bobby loudly sighed.

"Buffy, Buffy, Buffy," he said, "have you learned nothing? We're going to take you up on that offer, one of these days, and I promise you, you will be _so_ sorry." That brought a much needed laugh.

Illyana took a moment to consider Dawn, laughing with the others. She already considered Dawn a friend. She cursed the Monks. They were right to protect the Key, because no one knew what would happen if it was destroyed. But incarnating it? In flesh and blood, no less? That was madness. All that lived would eventually die. What would happen when the Key died? She hoped she wouldn't have to find out. For all that Glory wasn't terribly bright, no one but an utter idiot would go after the Key without knowing a way to use it. If the old legend was correct, and there was a surviving ritual, and it was the one that brought down all the barriers… Dawn was her friend, but if necessary, she would die at Illyana's hands before she was taken by Glory.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

New York City, NY.

Evading the staff at the airport was difficult, but Angel, Spike, and Lorne just barely managed to do it. They were each carrying a black bag full of what Wes called "illicit travel necessities"- weapons, and lots of them. Swords, knives, crossbows, crossbow bolts- the works. They knew- well, hoped- that the X-Men would have weapons of their own, but it never hurt to be sure. Angel and Spike went to get Giles and the others paged, as they had planned, while Lorne, clad in a trench coat and pulled-down fedora, waited. If anyone saw him, all was probably over, but hey- it was late, and it was New York, after all.

Finally, the others joined the three travellers.

"Problems?" Wes asked.

"None," Angel replied.

"Good," Giles said. "Now let's get some taxis."

Getting four taxis proved to be difficult. 

"Giles," Angel said in a somewhat urgent tone, "I don't want to hurry you, but sunrise is in a couple hours, and we don't know how long it's gonna take to get to this school."

"I'm aware of that."

Finally, they found four cabbies that seemed to be on some sort of break.

"Drivers, drivers," Giles hailed them.

"Yeah?" one of them asked.

"We need to get to Westchester immediately. It's a matter of some urgency."

"Okay. Where exactly are you going?"

"Salem Centre. The Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters."

The drivers, who began to go to their cars, stopped and turned around.

"What?" the first driver asked.

"Salem Centre. The Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters," Giles repeated.

The cabbies looked at each other, and looked back, and shook their heads.

"Nothin' doin'," the first driver told them.

"Excuse me?" Giles asked. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Look pal," the man told him, "some people might be willing to go up there, but not us. We've heard of that place- Hell, we've all driven up there! I once had to drive a big blue ape up there! That _school's_ just a home for muties, and we ain't gonna take anyone up there. Are we?" The other three drivers nodded in agreement.

Giles looked at them, looked at his friends, and looked back at the bigoted cabbies. From the looks of shock and fear they now had, he could tell that Angel, Spike, and Lorne were giving them a look at what they really were.

"Now, are you sure I can't convince you?" he asked, in a falsely pleasant tone.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Salem Centre, NY.

Sunrise was in just a half hour when the four cabs arrived at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Angel, Giles, and Fred emerged from the first cab, followed by Xander, Anya, and Gunn from the second, Cordelia, Wesley, and Spike from the third, and Willow, Tara, and Lorne from the fourth.

Very generous tips were given to the drivers, who rushed away with expressions of fright on their faces.

Giles went to the door and knocked. It was soon opened by Scott Summers.

"Welcome to the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters," he said. "I only wish it was under better circumstances." Most of the new arrivals entered.

"You're gonna have to be a little more direct, mate," Spike told him as he and Angel stood outside.

Scott took a moment to regard the two vampires. His friends had told him of their fight to save Ororo from Dracula. Scott had forced the story of the Buffybot out of Buffy, and Amanda, who was called to the mansion by Kurt, made sure to tell the Professor, Jean, Ororo, and himself everything that she knew about Angelus. But he also remembered that Spike let himself be tortured rather than tell Glory about Dawn, and the bruises that he could see told him of how bad that must have been. He remembered that the ensouled Angel was not only different from Angelus, but that Angel was actively working for good, protecting people and saving souls.

"Come in, both of you," he told them, and they did. As the greetings and strategy session began, he hoped that this act, necessary now, wouldn't come back to bite the X-Men and the New Mutants in their collective ass.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Somewhere in Pennsylvania

Glory was in a state of slow burn. Here she was, her last realistic opportunity flowing out of her fricking fingers like the sands through a fricking hourglass, and her _beloved_ minions allowed Ben to get away.

Finally, after a long, interminable wait, a bus came down the freeway and pulled over in front of the car. A scabby figure emerged from the door.

"Your Most High Splendiferousness," Jinx began.

"Spare it!" she snapped. "What took you so long?"

"We, ah, we deemed it necessary to bring reinforcements in case of battle, oh Your-" Glory strode past him and into the bus. She looked around at its passengers, some still feeding off of the bus' former passengers. Those of them that weren't minions began to tremble in fear. Glory smiled. Pure demons, unlike hybrids such as vampires, knew her for what she was on sight. She took another look at them.

"Y'know, Jinxy," she said to her minion, "I _was_ ready to rip you into tiny little pieces, but now I won't."

"Oh thank you, Most-"

"I'm gonna wait until the battle's over, and _then_ I'm gonna do it!"

"As is your right, Oh-"

"Is this it?" she demanded.

"Oh, no- the others are recruiting more even as we speak, Your Most Grovelworthy Beauteousness."

"Good," she purred, and took a seat that was evidently reserved just for her. She hoped that the Slayer was ready to get her ass kicked. Glory was in an asskicking mood, and didn't want to be disappointed again today…


	7. Old Melodies

Chapter Six: Old Melodies

Note: Still don't own the characters. Sorry for the long delay- university keeps a guy busy. But, here I am, ready to finish the story- I hope.

The mansion was a great knot of tension. That was evident to anyone capable of observation, but even more to a telepath. Professor Xavier was worried. The upcoming battle would hardly mark the first time that his school has been attacked, but that knowledge didn't make it any easier for him. His students and their new friends would be facing a God and whatever help she brought with her. Again, not the first time that his students had done so, but still…

The strategy session broke up relatively early. Everyone knew what Glorificus was capable of. No one knew what kind of help she'd be bringing with her- Cordelia didn't recognize any species in the opposition, but as she herself admitted, she wasn't an expert. So, it would be a free-for-all. It was far looser than the X-Men liked to play it, but old hat to the Scoobies and the investigators.

He let his astral self drift throughout his school, and listened in on the conversations of the students and his guests…

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

"So you're Illyana Rasputin, huh?" Lorne asked the young sorceress. "I thought you'd be older."

"Actually, Krevlornswath, I should be much younger."

"Oh, right, right. Sorry. And please, call me Lorne."

"It's okay. I'm used to it."

"No, you're not. You won't ever be, not really. Not unless you lose your humanity, and sweetheart, that wouldn't be a good idea."

"Oh yes, that's right- you can read auras. But I thought that only happened when people sing for you."

"Singing helps, but it's not always necessary. I know what you're planning if this all goes nuts, little girl."

"You protest? You know what the Key's capable of."

"She's a person."

"In the wrong hands, she's dangerous."

"And who here isn't? In fact, I'd say you're a hell of a lot more dangerous than she is."

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

"And this, Amanda," Kurt said, "is Angel."

"Ah, Angelus," Amanda said in her sweetest tone, "so _pleased_ to meet you."

"Uh, please, call me Angel," Angel replied, feeling a little nervous. 'Angelus', huh? This woman knew of him. She even looked a little familiar, but he couldn't place her.

"Liebchen, the man is here to help us," Kurt hissed. "Please don't start."

"You know as well as I that this… _thing_ isn't a man, Kurt," Amanda said, false sweetness gone.

"Am I missing something?" Angel asked. It probably wouldn't hurt to play along with- whatever this was.

"Janna Calderash was our cousin, vampire," Amanda snarled.

"Oh, God!" Angel closed his eyes. He looked up at Amanda. Now he knew why she looked so familiar. She was blond, and younger, but the resemblance of Amanda Sefton to Jenny Calendar was unmistakable. "I'm so sorry…" he began, then stopped. It wasn't often that he was in the position of apologizing to the family of Angelus'- of _his_- victims.

"Yes, yes I know- you're not him, not really," Amanda sighed. She looked a little tired, and not just from the early hour. "But you have him inside you. And I can't forget that." She said as she stalked off.

"I must, apologize, Herr Angel-"

"No, it's okay. I deserve a lot worse."

"You blame yourself?"

"Sometimes. I have all of Angelus' memories. I'll never forget Jenny's death. He- he enjoyed it too much"

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

            "And this is my loft," Ororo said to Tara and Willow as she and Kitty gave them a tour of the mansion.

            "Whoa! All these plants!" Willow marvelled.

            "Isn't it the coolest, or what?" Kitty bubbled. She loved Ororo's loft.

            "Goddess, Ororo," Tara breathed, "This place is so beautiful!"

            "I'm glad you girls like it," Ororo smiled. "Am I to assume that you worship the Goddess as well, Tara?"

            "Doesn't everybody, one way or another?"

            "Uh, not me," Kitty broke in. "Remember- little Jewish girl from Chicago?"

            "Me too, except I'm from Sunnydale," Willow added. "Hey Kitty, did your father ever let you watch the Charlie Brown's Christmas?"

            "Yeah he did." Kitty blushed. "I know it's silly, but the Snoopy Dance is my favourite part."

            "You like the Snoopy Dance too? Oh, I have got to get Xander to do it for you while we're here! He does the best Snoopy Dance I've ever seen! Well, except for Snoopy, of course, but Xander's a darn close second!"

            "Really? We should get him to do it while he's here!"  
  


            "Yeah!"

            "Kitten, would you like to show Willow your computer?" Ororo asked.

            "Yeah! Would you like to see it, Willow? I mean, I heard about how good you are with computers. I'm not that bad with them, if I say so myself."

            "That would be great! So Buffy and Dawn have telling stories, huh?"

            "Yup."

            "Oh God, they tell you about me and 'Malcolm' have they?"

            "Nope."

            "Good. Well pay attention, Kitty, and I'll tell all about the dangers of an online boyfriend…" Willow started as she and Kitty went downstairs.

            "They're a lot alike," Tara smiled.

            "Yes, they are. Tell me, Tara, as someone who has encountered Glory- how are our chances?"

            "I-I think they're okay. I mean- I'm sure that you and the X-Men have b-been up against a lot worse."

            "Perhaps, but no battle is ever easy, especially when the fate of the world rests on it."

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

            "I'm glad we could have a chance to talk," Rupert Giles said quietly.

            Moira MacTaggart turned to look at him. Damn- the man actually managed to get her alone in a room, and without her realizing it.

            "What d'ye want, _Ripper_?" she asked him. He flinched at the emphasis.

            "After we- parted company, I never" he removed his glasses, "I never got a chance to tell you how sorry I was. How sorry I am."

            "Oh- you're sorry. Right, well then, thank you Ripper, it's good to hear it." She turned away. She did not want to deal with him right now. Or ever, for that matter. But knowing him-

            "Moira," he began, and touched her shoulder lightly. She whirled around.

            "How _dare_ ye!" She hissed. "Ye come into my life, ye befriend me brother, and then ye get him killed on a- on a juvenile quest to get- to get what? High? Is that it? Some demon wearing Robby's body tries to attack me, an' ye and Ethan and Deirdre an' all the rest come and kill him? And then ye all vanish- and then _ye_ vanish, without saying goodbye, let alone apologizing? Oh _aye_, Rupert Giles, ye're very sorry!"

Giles lowered his head. She was right. Under other circumstances, he might have given a bitter laugh. Once again, he was paying for the sins of his youth in his old age. When he met her eyes again, he saw that her eyes were wet.

"There is nothing that I can say that can make it up to you," he told her, tonelessly.

"Well ye have that right!" She stormed out of the room, leaving him alone with his thoughts, and his memories, and his guilt.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

"Hello!" came the voice of Lila Cheney, as she and her band teleported into the mansion. "I know we're a little early, but I got quite the sound system to set up here for tomorrow, and I wanted to know- hello?" The hall of the mansion, usually full of mutants going to and fro, was empty.

"Huh," came the voice of her newest guitarist. She looked at him. Dan was nothing if not taciturn, but in the short time she'd known him, she'd grown used to deciphering his various 'Huh''s- he was saying "Guess nobody's home." His silence wasn't the weirdest thing about him, though. Her crew had become used to the strange, after being around her for so long. Still, she had noticed that they left Dan alone for the three nights of the full moon. Better to be safe than sorry, she guessed.

"Well this is strange," Alison muttered. Alison Blaire had been with the band a little while longer than Dan, and knew Xavier and his people longer than any of them. When he arrived, she no longer had put up with being the newbie. She was _another_ strange thing that the crew had around, but she was one of them, and they were tight. And God knew, the woman had had enough disappointments in her life. The Cheney band knew it, too.

"Hello!" Lila tried again, louder. There was no response.

"So much for trying inside," she muttered. She looked at her band. "Okay, guys- looks like we check out the outside. And if the Professor gets angry-"

"I won't Lila," came the voice of Charles Xavier. A teenaged girl she didn't know- a new student, apparently- was wheeling him into the hall. "But, to be honest, now isn't really a good time."

"What exactly does that mean, Charles?" Alison asked him. Lila frowned- that didn't sound good. As she did, the girl's eyes widened.

"Oz?" she breathed.

"Hey, Dawn," Dan said from behind her.

"Oz!" the girl- Dawn- squealed as she ran past Lila to hug her guitarist.

"Oz?" Lila asked, confused.

"Ah," Charles said. Lila looked at him, smiling in his wheelchair. "So this is Oz." Lila looked at him, and then turned back to look at Dan- or Oz, or whatever his name was- embrace the young girl.

"You know this girl, Dan?" she asked him. Dan looked at her.

"Yup," was all he said. Well, _that_ figured. He wasn't a talker.

"Dan?" Dawn asked him.

"Daniel Osbourne, remember?" he told her.

"Okay," was all Lila could say. The world really was small, after all.

"And you're Scott's cousin right?" he asked Dawn after they let go.

"Yuh-huh. You've met Scott?"

"A couple times. He's pretty cool. Is Buffy here?"

"Yeah." She hugged him again. "I'm so glad you're here."

"Uh, thanks." He looked at the Professor. "Trouble?"

"You could say that."

"Oz?" came a voice from behind Lila. She turned and saw a woman about her own age staring at Dan, or Oz, or Whatever.

"Hey, Cordy," he replied in the same even tones he always spoke in. The woman just grinned and went to hug him.

"I was wondering when you'd get here," she told him as they broke their embrace.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. See, there's the insane HellGod who's coming after Dawn. Us, and the Scoobies, and the X-Men and the little X-Men-"

"They're called the New Mutants," the Professor interjected.

"Right, the New Mutants. Anyway, we're all going to protect Dawn from her."

"Okay. So why did you know I'd be here?"

"I can see things now. Flashes of the future, from the Powers That Be. I saw two werewolves protecting Dawn. One of the girls here can turn into a wolf. The other one looked kinda like you."

"Yeah, I know Rahne. So why does this HellGod want Dawn?"

"Dawn's not really human. She's the Key Between Dimensions, and Glory- the HellGod- is going to use her to destroy the universe."

"Huh."

"Exactly."

"Excuse me- what?" was all Lila could say.

"Same old, same old, huh Professor?" Alison asked Xavier, voice full of amusement. There was a reason she tried to avoid the superhero life.

"Come with me, everyone- I'll explain further," the Professor told her, as he wheeled himself to his study. "Dawn, Cordelia, I'm certain your friends would love to catch up with Oz."

"There in the Dining Room having breakfast," Dawn bubbled. Even though there was going to be a fight for her fate soon, she was happy. Almost all of the people she loved were together.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

"Look who's here!" Dawn enthused as she entered the kitchen.

Here? Tara looked up from where she was sitting. Could Hank Summers finally have gotten t the mansion? If so, then the man had a bad sense of-

Oz entered the kitchen. Tara felt her blood run cold. No. Not him. She remembered the last time she encountered the werewolf. She closed her eyes- the change, the warning to run, the- the wolf chasing after her, hell-bent on killing her. It wasn't his fault, though- not really. None of them knew that his treatment of his condition would make him go wolf when he became agitated- not even him. And, to be fair, he was extremely sorry. She opened her eyes. Willow and Oz were hugging. Her heart dropped a little. This is to be expected. She knew that. Oz was Willow's first love, and that was special.

"Hey, my man!" Xander enthused as he gave Oz a man-hug. "Looks like the gang's almost all here."

"Yeah," Oz agreed. The rest of the Scooby ladies, minus Anya, went to hug the new arrival.

"Nice timing," Buffy smiled, as she hugged Oz.

"Yeah, Cordy told me. What's the ETA?"

"We don't know. Glory is- a little unpredictable."

He shook Giles' hand, and Angel's, and nodded at Wesley and Spike. Tara nodded to herself- from what Willow had told her of her life, he wouldn't have good memories of those two. Then apparently it was the X-Men's turn.

"So _you're_ the werewolf that Xander was talking about," Scott said. "I should have known."

"Hi Oz!" Rahne called from across the room. How would- oh, right. Rahne could turn into a wolf and a hybrid form. A kinda mutant lycanthrope- except she was in full control and couldn't infect anybody by biting them.

"Where's Lila?" Jean asked. Lila?

"The rest of the band is with the Professor. He's filling them in. They're not so used to Apocalypse-y stuff, except for maybe Lila and Alison."

"Lila? Alison?" Buffy asked.

"Lila's my boss. I'm in her band. So's Alison."

"Have I heard of them?"

"Ever heard of Lila Cheney?"

"No way," Xander breathed. Lila Cheney? The rock star? Oz had gone up in the world!

"Yeah. And Alison's the Dazzler. Remember her?" Alex asked.

"Alison Blaire?" Angel asked. "That Dazzler?" Tara remembered the Dazzler. She had a hot career- until her mutation was discovered. The public dropped her after that.

"The one and only."

"Wow," Angel smiled. "I've got all her CD's! I remember the first song I ever heard on the radio." 

"How did it go?" Fred asked. Angel opened his mouth as if to sing, and Cordelia quickly dashed to him and shut it.

"Angel, you're my friend, I love you, but please, please, _please_ in the name of God don't sing." 

"Why not?" Fred asked.

"Because he can't," Wesley stated in a manner of fact tone.

"He can draw, he can act, and his singing sounds like the screaming of the damned." Cordelia said. Angel looked hurt.

"I'm not _that_ bad," he whined after Cordelia took her hand off.

"Not quite, but pretty close" Gunn muttered. Angel glared at him. Gunn looked at him, all innocence.

The talk continued for a while. Tara just ate, and glanced at Oz. This really was to be expected. Cordelia said two werewolves were defending Dawn. Rahne was one, and it only made sense that Oz would be the other. Still-

"Please, Goddess," she silently prayed, "don't let him lose control ever again."

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Oz was a little weirded out. He met the X-Men, and the New Mutants, shortly after coming to work for Lila. She didn't believe him when he said he was a werewolf- she thought he was a mutant. After a checkout at the X-Mansion, as he liked to call it, she believed him. Well, he couldn't blame her. After all, Lila was a mutant, and so was Alison. The band all knew about it, but didn't talk about it. Just like they didn't talk about him being a werewolf. 

He didn't expect to encounter the Scoobies here. He thought that Scott smelled kind of familiar- being Buffy's and Dawn's cousin would do that to a guy. Not that he minded meeting the Sunnydale crew- they were his friends, and in a way, his family. The family that slays together stays together, and there would be some serious slayage soon. But that wasn't his problem. When he left Willow that last time, he knew he'd meet her again, but not like this. Not with- _her_ here.

He looked across the room at Tara Maclay. After reuniting with everyone, they talked, and then when Lila and Alison came in with the Professor, well- Xander was a big fan of Lila's, and Angel had all of Alison's CD's (somehow, Oz could believe it), so there was some gushing over the celebrities. He didn't mind- it was to be expected, and he was kinda glad. With a diversion there, he didn't have to face the blond witch. He didn't want to, not after what he did. Not after what he almost did. It wasn't her fault that she met and fell in love with Willow, and that Willow loved her back. It wasn't her fault that her girlfriend's ex couldn't keep his damn wolf under control. And yet, part of him did blame her, and for everything, and he knew which part. Wolves mate for life, after all. Willow's not a wolf, though, nor is Tara.

He lowered his eyes. What the hellmouth is wrong with him? Now is not the time to focus on his own problems- now is the time to worry about protecting Dawn. So, little Dawnie can destroy the universe? Huh. He got up, and went over to Tara. Time to face the music.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Tara looked up in alarm as Oz came toward her. She looked around- Willow was talking to the students, and by the looks of things she was telling a story. Still, she was nearby, and the room was full of superheroes, so if he lost control and tried to attack her, she would be safe. She hoped.

"Hey," was all he said. He wasn't looking in her eyes.

"H-hello," she stammered back.

They were silent for a time.

"I'm so sorry," he said quickly.

"I know," Tara responded.

Silence again.

"Will's special." They looked into each other's eyes. Oz didn't continue. He didn't have to. Willow Rosenberg was funny, kind, brilliant, and gentle, but with a core of steel and fierce caring for those she loved. Her laugh was like birdsong, and she was beautiful inside and out.

Willow described her high school self as the wallflower of wallflowers. Her opening to the sun was thanks to the Scoobies, and all of the adventures they had. Part of that was because of Oz. She knew her love well enough to know that loving Oz brought parts of her to life that she didn't even know existed. In that way, Tara actually owed Oz a debt.

She opened her mouth to speak.

"Thank you for loving her," Oz said. Tara could hear his voice crack as he said it, and she saw tears begin to form in his eyes. She could tell why: Oz had just given Willow to her. Willow wasn't his to give, or hers to receive, but she knew that he knew that, and she could tell what he meant- he was revoking any claim he had to her as a lover. He was letting Willow go. He had done it a long time ago, but now he was speaking to another person. Hearing your long-hidden thoughts spoken aloud creates a sense of reality and immediacy. She learned that when she finally told her father to go, after she had finally mustered the courage to leave her family in the first place. And it was Willow that gave her that strength.

She took Oz's hand in hers. He looked at her in surprise.

            "Thank _you_ for loving her," she whispered. She let her face show all the understanding and sympathy she felt for him. His expression changed- from surprise, to shock, to wonder, and finally to gratitude. They stood holding hands for a long time.

            Neither noticed Willow looking at them, tears of joy in her eyes.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

            "Buffy," Lila said as she came up to the young… Killer? Mauler? No… Slayer. That's it. Slayer.

            "Yeah Lila?" Buffy looked a little distracted. Didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why, not after what the Professor told her about this Glory bitch.  
  


            "I don't know if you know, but I'm a mutant too. I'm a teleporter."

            "Like Kurt?"

            "Yeah, but Kurt is short range. I'm… long range."

            "Like how long?" Buffy was beginning to catch on.

            "Like about halfway across the galaxy."

            "No way." Buffy's eyes bugged.

            "Way. I've got a place out there- my personal Dyson Sphere, and I was thinking- wouldn't it just be easier if I took Dawn where we know Glory can't follow?"

            Buffy looked shocked, then relieved.

            "Wait here," she said, as she went across the room to where Cordelia was talking to that cute Wesley and Sam. Ah, Sam. Her boyfriend. At least, that's what she said, and what he thought. But really? No. She liked Sam- she liked him a lot- but the fact was that she too busy for a boyfriend that couldn't be on the road for her. And besides- Sam was far too young. She was hoping to break it to him after the wedding. She hoped he wouldn't be too hurt. He deserved someone that could be with him more often- someone closer to his own age.

            Buffy talked to Cordelia for a short while, then the two came back to her.

            "Thanks for the offer," Cordelia told her, "but no, that won't work. The Powers work in mysterious ways, and I'm such a spaz for saying it with a cliché, but it's the truth. I've never had a vision that far in advance before now, but the way I saw it is the way it's supposed to go down if we're to have a chance."

            "Besides," Buffy said slowly, "if I get used to just sending Dawn off with you, then I'm going to stay used to it, maybe even after we take Glory out. I don't want Dawn living her life on the other side of the galaxy away from her family and friends."

            Lila frowned. She didn't really know much about visions and powers, but she could see Buffy's point.

            "It's your call," she said, "but just remember- I'm here if you change your mind, 'kay?"

            "Okay, and thanks," Buffy smiled.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

            "Excuse me, everyone," the Professor said from the doorway, "but it is probably time to get the rehearsal underway."

            "The rehearsal?" Giles asked, a little incredulously. He couldn't believe what he just heard! Rehearse for a wedding, with a HellGod on her way?

            "Yes. We do not know when Glory is arriving, and we cannot just sit around and wait. No- best to just live our lives while we wait." People around the room were nodding. Giles opened his mouth to object, but then closed it. He remembered the Prom- his children went to that, even in the face of hellhounds and the Ascension. Come to think of it, why should he object? It seemed the X-Men had the same mindset as his children in this way. Best just to play along.

            "That's an excellent idea, Charles," Giles agreed. "If I may make one suggestion?"

            "Please do."

            "All of the people here without powers should have some form of protection with them."

            "Yeah that's right!" Xander broke in. "We got weapons!"

            "What would I do without you guys?" Buffy smiled. Giles knew she'd be happy.

            "Weapons? All of us?" Dr. Grey asked, a little confused. Not that Giles could blame him for that.

            "Yes," Giles told him. "That would probably be best. Tell me, have you ever used a weapon?"

            "Well, I fenced a bit in college-"

            "Perfect! Xander, get Dr. Grey a sword." Xander went off.

            "But I haven't fenced in years!"

            "Trust me, sir- it's like riding a bicycle."

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Jean stood with her father as the rehearsal for the wedding started. Like the rest of the mutants, she wore her combat uniform, just to be safe. Her father felt a little strange holding the sword the Scoobies gave him- she didn't even need her powers to know that. If the attack came while the rehearsal was in progress, he had to have a way to defend himself. He had done a little fencing in college, but that was a long time ago. In the event of an attack, the X-Men's only plan was to get the non-combatants- her family and most of the band- and Dawn out of the way as soon as possible. Part of her hoped that the attack would be today. Tomorrow would see even more guests. Some would know the truth about the school, but others would not. And few of them were able to defend themselves from the supernatural.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

            Scott stood at the 'altar' set up in the mansion's back yard. The rest of the wedding part was waiting for their cue back in the mansion, leaving him all alone- except for the band and the rest of the 'guests,' all equally nervous. Cordelia's vision warned of an attack outdoors, but didn't say when. He couldn't recall seeing armed people at the X-Mansion for a good cause.

            Giles had a crossbow and a sword. Wesley had a sword and a knife. Gunn carried a wicked looking axe, and the strange young woman- Fred?- had a sword. Swords seemed to be the order of the day- Scott knew that Buffy, Kurt (who had three- two for his hands and one for his tail, if needed), Dr. Grey, Moira, Angel, Oz, and Spike each had one, and Illyana could call one up if needed. Xander had a baseball bat, and Anya a mace. Even Mrs. Grey had a dagger. Of the ordinary humans, only the witches and the children went unarmed, but they were special cases. The mutants didn't need weapons, except for Warren who had a crossbow, to rain death from the sky, and Lila, who had a blaster. Doug was going to merge with Warlock, and the others had combat worthy powers.

            Looking up at Lila, he saw her give a nod and a small smile. She cued up the wedding march. The rest of the party began to file in.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

            Hearing the wedding march begin, Buffy jumped up from where she was sitting and grabbed Hank's arm. Jean niece, Gailyn, was the flower girl, and her nephew Joey was the ring bearer. They went first, Joey keeping the rigs from falling off the pillow, Gailyn strewing flowers in the bride's path.

            "Why, Buffy, I'm flattered," Hank grinned, "but I already have a girlfriend."

            "Why can't I have that problem? I mean, I-" Alex and Ororo- Best Man and Matron of Honour- went next.

            "You want a boyfriend? It's hard to believe that you're unattached. I imagine that young men would be breaking doors down to get to you." Warren and Lorna were next.

            Buffy laughed as she and Hank went next. Young men _had_ broken down doors to get to her, and so had old men, and young women, and many more- but they were all of the undead variety. Then she sobered. Pike. Owen. Angel. Scott Hope. Riley. Of all of them, only Owen hadn't hurt her, but she didn't have an investment in him- and the fact that she broke it off with him after only one date helped. But other than him… the convent was looking better and better all the time. Maybe she could convince Dawn to take nunnish vows with her- there was no reason all the Summers women had to have relationships go awry.

            "Thanks, but singleness has its own special goodness."

            "I've said that myself- after I've been dumped. And then I remind myself of the words of the Immortal Bard- ''Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.""

            "How often did the 'Immortal Bard' lose?"

            "Hmm. You know, that's a very good question." They reached the altar, and went to their respective sides. A moment later, Dawn was at her side, and Bobby at Hank's. Buffy looked at where Jean and her father were making their way up the aisle.

            Jean. God, Buffy wished that all this had to happen now. The marriage of Jean Grey to Scott Summers was a long time coming, and it should have been a completely happy happening- not part of a nervous, tense, wait for a battle.

            *Don't* Buffy gave a small start. Jean was reading her mind, and she sounded mad!

            *You're broadcasting. What's happening now is _not_, and I repeat _not_ your fault, and you are not to blame yourself for it* Jean continued. Her serene face was completely at odds with her fierce, almost angry tone.

            *I'm sorry*

            *Don't be. All of this is Glory's fault. The sooner she comes, the sooner she's no longer a problem* Well, that was true. Still…

            *Should we have taken Lila up on her offer?*

            *No. I think you did the right thing- Dawn can't live her whole life in Lila's Dyson Sphere*

            *I guess*

            Jean had reached the alter, and stood across from Scott. Buffy didn't need to be a telepath to read Scott's mind just then- and he'd be an even bigger wreck tomorrow. Yup- first came the silly grin, which he already sort of had, then came the sweating- and he was sweating a bit.

            "Dearly beloved," the Professor said from the altar. "I would like to welcome you all to the rehearsal for tomorrow's big event."

            "Long has it been in coming," Alex audibly whispered. A few dirty looks were sent his way.

            "Amen," Bobby said in the same tone, earning a few looks of his own. Buffy and Dawn just looked at each other- Men!

            "Well, at any rate-" the Professor began, but he was cut off by a loud crash. All was silent for a moment.

            "They're here," Bobby muttered. And the backyard was filled with motion. John Grey grabbed his grandchildren and ran to where his wife was already standing- with the band. Lila opened a gate, and the band, minus Oz and Alison, entered, along with the Greys. Lila would be staying with them- the non-combatants needed a way back, and if anything happened to Lila... The Mansion had a communicator that was ready to send a message to the Dyson Sphere, no matter the outcome.

            Rogue and Ororo took flight to scout the cause of the damage.

            *Charles, two buses have crashed through our front gates. There are demons inside* Storm sent.

            *An' the demons are makin' for the back yard* Rogue added. *I don't know why they're not chargin' through the mansion, but I'm not complainin'*

            *Do not engage them yet* Charles sent back.

            *Everyone, this is the Professor. Glorificus has arrived. Maintain your positions, and do not let yourselves get separated!*

Ororo and Rogue came back closer to earth, as Sam stood a little apart from the others for when it was time to blast. Dani mentally called Brightwind, her pegasi. Glorificus and her demons weren't just about to fight mutants- a Valkyrie stood ready to face the bitch! Rahne shifted into her half-wolf form, as Roberto became Sunspot and Amara became Magma. Doug and Warlock shared a look, and then merged, becoming Douglock. Xi'an stood back a little, hoping she could possess a demon. Illyana smiled wickedly as she called her Soulsword. Her magic wasn't all that great on Earth, but her Soulsword was more than enough to give demons nightmares.

The X-Men were far from idle. Bobby iced up, and Peter became Colossus. Jean took to the skies, as did Lorna. The X-Men and Scoobies formed a protective circle around Dawn.

They didn't have to wait long.

Glory led a large group of demons around the house to the back yard. She was holding some kind of crystal on a string. The crystal glowed, then escaped Glory's grasp and flew straight to Dawn. It slipped around her head. Glory grinned.

"There's my little Key," the deity purred.


	8. Fight Music

Chapter Seven: Fight Music

Note: The characters _still_ do not belong to me. None of them at all. Please don't sue me.

Two minutes ago…

Glory, once more appropriately garbed in another of her many dresses, smiled as she saw the mansion through the barred gates. The crystal was tugging even harder. Well, duh! It was the mansion it showed her.

"Get ready to ram, Jinx," she told the minion.

"But we might destroy half the bus!" Jinx told her.

"Do I look like I care? _Do it NOW!_"

"Yes, oh Most Destructive Gatecrashing One" Jinx replied as he put the bus into reverse, and then rammed the gate at terrific speed.

Surprisingly, the bus suffered little damage. The same could not be said for its driver.

"Oooh," Jinx moaned. The crash somehow threw him to the front doorway of the bus.

"Well, it's about time!" Glory cried as she kicked the door off its hinges. Well, actually, she kicked Jinx, and his momentum ripped the door off its hinges.

"Oowwww…." Jinx moaned, lying on top of the door.

"Oh shut up!"

The second bus full of demons drove in beside the first one. The doors opened, and Dreg came out.

"Are you ready, oh Most Magnificent Homebound One?"

"Can none of you minions ask me an intelligent question? I've been ready for twenty-five frickin' _years_!"

"Yes, Your Most Divinely Patient One," Dreg placated her. "Fall out!" He yelled. Demons exited from both buses.

"And now, storm the mansion!" Dreg shouted. "Leave none alive!" Nothing moved. "What are you waiting for?"

"For _me,_ Dregsie," Glory purred. "Or have you suddenly achieved godhood?"

"Oh, Most Impressive Omnipotence, I-"

SMACK!

Glory's kick launched the minion high into the air. He landed right beside the door wher Jinx lay.

"Oowwww…"

"Oh shut up!" She turned to the demons. "Listen up! Follow me, and don't attack anyone until I say so! Now this crystal-" she held it aloft, "is going to fly straight to the Key! If anyone puts even a scratch on my Key, that demon will answer to _me_!" Holding up the crystal, Glory went in the direction it was tugging her. The Key must be on the other side of this ugly little hovel. As Glory rounded the back, she slowed down, causing her pack to slow down behind her. After all, Glorificus the Almighty makes none but the best entrances.

Sure enough, there was a crowd of superheroes surrounding the Slayer's sister, as well as the Slayer and her friends. The crystal in her hand suddenly began to glow, and with a jerk, it escaped her grasp. It flew through the crowd of people, to slip itself on the girl's neck. Glory grinned wickedly- any possible doubt was gone, now.

"There's my little Key," the deity purred.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Buffy glared at Glory. She had seldom hated one of her opponents like she hated the Hellgod at this moment.

"Now, little girl, you have two choices," Glory called. "You can either come with me right now, and every one of your family and friends dies in a couple days, or you can try to resist, and they all die right now. Painfully."

Dawn's face was pale.

"Go to hell!" She yelled. Buffy felt incredibly proud of Dawn. More proof, as if any was needed, that Dawn was a Summers.

"Yeah, that's kinda the idea," Glory smirked. "You heard the little brat, fellas."

The demons charged.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Buffy grabbed Dawn and ran towards the mansion. Some of the demons went after her. The rest didn't have a chance.

"Remember- don't hold back!" Giles yelled as a Polgara demon charged him.

Scott actually snarled as his beams shot at a large reptilian looking demon that was leading the charge to Buffy. Slowing it down caused several other demons to fall on top of it… leaving them free for Jean to throw them into the ocean.

*Thanks* he sent.

*Thank later. Fight now* was the response. That, and, as always, *I love you*

*Ditto*

From the skies Ororo's eyes turned white as she called the elements to do her will. Lightning streaked down from the heavens. She had to be extremely careful- battle is chaotic, and the weapons of her Goddess could hurt friend as easily as foe.

"Save some for the rest of us!" Warren called as he joined her. Taking aim, he shot at an insectoid creature that was moving towards the Professor. It hurt the thing, but it wasn't doing the job.

"Need help?" Dani called from a distance. Atop Brightwind, she took careful aim with her own bow, and fired. Her shot put the creature to the ground.

"See?" she called. "Now that's how it's done!" Warren's only response was a cold smile, and a shot from his crossbow.

"What?" Dani yelled. The bolt barely missed her. What the hell? Warren pointed, and she shifted so that she could see behind her. A batlike demon was falling into the ocean.

"Don't get cocky!" Warren called back. A shadowy creature was gliding up behind him. Dani shot it, and it fell to earth.

"I knew that was there!" he called as he took aim again.

"Right," Dani smirked as she did the same.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

On the ground, Peter and Roberto were fighting a large clay creature with the word 'Emeth' written on its forehead. Their blows were barely hurting it. From behind them, a shadowy figure muttered a spell, and sparks shot from its hands, hitting the two heroes.

Roberto and Peter gasped as they suddenly reverted to their ordinary selves. Before they could change back, the thing breathed peppermint pink gas on them. A sweet smell filled their nostrils.

"Good night," Roberto muttered in Portuguese as he passed out.

"Good night," Peter mumbled in Russian, joining his younger colleague in dreamland.

The mage grinned wickedly as the golem- one of his prized pair- lifted its hands to finish its opponents off. Just before its fists hit, a girl in blue reached them and touched them. The golem's fists went through the unconscious heroes, but didn't hurt them at all.

"That's Shadowcat," a voice came from behind him. He whirled. A young blond woman was standing behind him. "She can make herself and anything she touches intangible. And I'm Jimaine Szarados."

Szarados? As in- He didn't get a chance to finish his thought as the young woman rattled off a spell and he was enveloped in fire. It didn't hurt him, but his shield took quite a beating. This was going to be a lot harder than he thought. He launched a counterattack, and the magical duel was on.

"Kitty, you know how to stop a golem!" Willow yelled as she fought a duel of her own. Taking a page out of Bobby's book, she encased her opponent in ice… only to have it quickly melt and her enemy fired bolts of pure magic at her. Willow snarled, and countered with lightning.

Kitty did know how to deal with golems. She moved her teammates out of the line of fire- amazing how light things were when intangible- and ran back to the golem, which was moving towards where Buffy was holding off a crowd of demons. She phased herself through it, and stood before it. Lifting herself into the air, she concentrated enough to allow a finger to solidify. She used the solid digit to rub out the E in 'Emeth,' Hebrew for truth, leaving only 'Meth,' Hebrew word for death. The golem collapsed, inanimate. And who said old stories were all lies?

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

The Professor sat out of the general melee and concentrated on attacking the invaders with his greatest weapon- his mind. Some of the demons were vulnerable, others were not, and a few were capable of launching counterattacks. None were a match for the most powerful telepath alive.

He saw Buffy standing before Dawn fighting off a crowd of demons. The demons were crowding in around the Slayer, limiting their effectiveness, but the sheer number had the power to bring her down unless…

Charles quickly judged distance and severity of engagement, and came to a decision.

*Rupert! Gunn! Help Buffy!*

The Watcher and the demon hunter heard, and charged towards Buffy. Their opponents followed, but were met by Moira and Wesley.

"Move yer arse, Rupert!" Moira yelled as she cut the guts out of one demon, only to be attacked by another.

"Right," Giles replied as he stabbed a demon from behind.

Another of the demons near the back turned and charged at Gunn. He killed it quickly, and joined Giles in fighting the crowd as Buffy and Dawn continued their run for the Mansion. Neither man noticed Oz and Rahne charging after them, mixing it up with a pack of hellhounds who were hanging back, waiting for the right moment to kill.

Rahne was a little surprised by Oz's savagery as she ripped out one of the hounds' throats. The Professor claimed to have been able to help him retain some control when he 'wolfed out' as he called it, but as she sliced another hound's entrails she wondered how much good the Professor was actually doing.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

"How are we doing?" Alison yelled to Lorne as they fought.

"We're alive, and the Key hasn't been taken yet," he called back. He pointed to a nearby pair of demons.

"See those guys? They're a mated pair. The boys can't stand loud noise, and the ladies just wilt under the bright lights."

Alison smirked. She could see where he was going. Running towards the demon, Lorne let out an ear piercing shriek. One of the demons fell to the ground. The other tried to help it up. Lorne kept shrieking, and Alison used the sound to fire several shards of light at the other. Soon both were down. The Host and the Dazzler took a quick moment to bow, and resumed the fight.

While Alex was covering her, Lorna focused on the two newly fallen demons. She tested them, and fortunately, they had enough metal in their blood to be movable by her. She threw them into the sky, where they hit a large birdlike thing that was fighting. It must be some kind of shapeshifter, Lorna decided, or else it wouldn't have been able to fit in a bus. The demons were impaled on its large claws.

Sean took advantage of the demon's surprise and hit it with renewed sonic fury, fury which was soon joined by Alex's blasts. The bird was quickly fried chicken. Nodding at each other, the three heroes kept up the struggle.

A few feet from Alex and Lorna, Sam was observing the battle in the sky. By this time, every demon that could fly was doing so. Seeing a free target, he blasted off, and hit it as hard as he could. It flew off into the horizon. With all his might, he managed to turn around, and charged a monster on the ground. It flew out to the ocean. After he hit the thing, he stopped, and prepared to repeat the process. Then, he noticed the golem- the mage's other golem- beside him. His world became peppermint pink and sweet smelling, and suddenly, sleeping seemed like a really good idea.

"G'night," he mumbled as he fell into sleepyland.

Fortunately, Rogue was right there, and also saw how Kitty defeated the other golem. Holding her breath, she quickly wiped the E off the golems brow, and as it crashed to the ground, she took Sam to where Petey and 'Berto were sleeping it off, and where Xi'an was kneeling, psychically controlling a demon that was attacking its former allies. 

"Sleep tight, boys," she whispered, caught Xi'an's eye briefly and nodded, and went back to the sky, where battle was still fiercely raging.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Doug/Warlock (Douglock) was single handedly holding off a group of very nasty looking demons. Or rather, double handedly. Manipulating his/their hands into saws, hammers, and other nasty devices, he/they kept the creatures at bay. Douglock cut into one- and the saw was stuck. Douglock tried to remove his/their appendage, but the monsters grabbed their other arm, and two others grabbed their/his legs.

"Looks like we're gonna have us some mutie," one of the standing demons grinned, and swung at Douglock's chest. He never made it.

Ivy was swirling tightly around him, and where it clung, he couldn't move. It soon enveloped him. Douglock even saw ivy going into the demon's eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. Looking around, he/they saw that all of their enemies were in the same state. Then the demons let go. Douglock was free!

Looking around, they/he saw Tara holding a hand outstretched. She noticed them and shrugged, as if to say "I can fight nasty when I have to."

"You boys should get out of the way now," she told him/them. Douglock followed instructions- a good thing, as Amara proceeded to fry the demons with her powers.

On the other side of the yard, Hank and Bobby were fending off a group of blue-furred ape demons.

"Say buddy, how do I know you're not one of them?" Bobby called as he made some of his demons chill out.

"Because none of them is as handsome as me," Hank replied, as he dazzled his demons with his enhanced strength and acrobatic prowess- dazzled them right to dreamland.

"Ach, handsome is in the eye of the beholder, _mein freund_!" Kurt called from where he was fighting three uglies with swords for hands. In spite of the danger of the situation, Kurt was enjoying himself. It wasn't often that he had to use his hands and his tail in a swordfight.

"Wanna trade?" Bobby called. "These guys are getting boring."

"_Ja_. _Und du, _Hank?" 

"Ah, okay. To your left, men!"

"Right!" they both called back.

"Not that old joke again," Hank muttered as he leapt over Bobby's to land on the blue ape-demons. Kurt teleported to deal with Hank's former burdens, and Bobby flash-froze the surprised sword-thingies.

"Do we rock, or do we rock!" Bobby crowed.

"Indeed!" Hank agreed.

"That's what makes us the X-Men!" Kurt added.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

The minions, plus Jinx and Dreg (who had finally recovered enough to move) watched the battle with dismay.

The battle was still raging fiercely, but the outcome was no longer in doubt. Their enemies were winning.

"Why doesn't her Most Awe-Inspiring KickAssness not enter the battle?" one of them asked.

"Her Most Cunning Shrewdness must have a plan," another said, and they all nodded. Of course. Her Most Brilliant Evil-Schemerness always had a plan!

"Maybe," came a voice from behind them. The minions turned.

Xander, Anya, Cordelia, and Fred were standing behind them, weapons drawn.

"Or maybe she's just a cowardly little Hellgodling," Xander continued, tauntingly.

The minions stared in shock. No one had ever called the almighty Glorificus a coward!

With a wordless cry, the minions charged. No one would insult their Most Divine Non-Cowardliness and get away with it!

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

The minions were right- Glory did have a plan. She was lying in wait, concealed by the bushes near the back door of the mansion. If the Slayer managed to get the Key through the gauntlet of demons, Glory was ready to grab and dash.

And sure enough, the Slayer was nearing the back door. Glory was ready to pounce. The noise of the battle and… sigh… the loud and pathetic whining of her minions getting their asses kicked would cover up any sound until it was too late. Note to self- get better minions when I rule My dimension alone.

Glory stood up, and neared the Slayer.

"Buffy! Look out!" Buffy turned. Fred was yelling, and Buffy could see why.

"Hello, bitch," Buffy snarled, and hit Glory as hard as she could. "Dawn! Get inside!"

"Not today, sweetheart!" Glory recovered, and knocked the Slayer out of the way. The Key had a very pleasing expression of absolute terror on her face.

"NYARRH!" Suddenly, Glory was stabbed in the side. She looked at her assailant. A small, wild eyed man, with a torn yellow and blue costume (at least that's what it looked like in the places that weren't covered with blood) and animalistic eyes, was stabbing her in her side.

"I don't have time for this!" She yelled as she hit him. He made a strange clanging noise as she hit him, let he had a metal skeleton.

She turned back to the Key… in time for the Slayer to hit her again. Hard.

"Okay, I've been patient, I really have, but I'm getting _very_ tired of this!" The Slayer and the small clawed man were facing her. To one side, she could hear the Slayer's friends fighting their way through her incompetent minions to help the Slayer fight. She could see several of the mutants try to clear a path to her. She snarled. Screw the incompetents! She'd take all these stupid, pathetic _mortals_ alone if she had to!

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the Key sneak into the doorway, followed by the two werewolves. She smiled nastily. Nice try. Moving as fast as she could, she made a dash for the doorway. Would she? Yes! She did! She slammed the door behind her.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Buffy made for the door but didn't make it in time. And then the back wall of the mansion's exterior was flash frozen. All eyes turned to a sheepish Bobby.

"Damn! Too slow," he cursed.

"You got that right, _Ass_man," Cordy snarked.

Half the group made for the front door, while the other half served as rear guard. All that is, except Kurt and Illyana, who teleported in.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

The three youths whirled around as Glory slammed the door.

"You know," the Hellgod said almost pleasantly, "I thought my time on this mudball couldn't get any less pleasant, but hey whaddaya know- it did!" She took a step forward, and there was a minor explosion in front of her.

"_Guten tag, Fraulein_," a blue fuzzy thing said, merrily. "Run!" he yelled at the three. They did.

"They can run, but they can't-"

"Ah, but _Fraulein_ Glory, they can!" He grabbed her, and the two vanished in a cloud of smoke.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

"Angel! Spike!" Illyana called as she teleported into the Professor's private study, where the two vampires were waiting.

"She's here, ain't she?" Spike asked, seeing the sorceress covered in blood. "You hurt, love?"

"The blood's not mine, and yes, she's here. She's in the mansion, too, but I think Kurt's… leading her around."

"Why aren't the others following?" Angel demanded.

"Iceman tried to flash freeze the back part of the mansion before Glory could get in. It kinda backfired. The others are coming- there are still demons out there."

"You got that right!" Dawn panted, entering the room with Oz and Rahne hot on her heels.

"The demons are fighting the others," Oz growled.

"Since when could you talk as a wolf?" Angel asked.

"The Professor taught me," was all Oz said. Typical.

"Must've been some lessons," Spike snorted.

"You have no idea."

"How long do you think we have?" Dawn asked.

"Depends on how long Kurt keeps 'er occupied," Rahne shrugged.

"And how will she do that?"  
  


"Ye _really _don't wanna know."

Illyana was lost in thought. If it was going to come down to the four of them against Glorificus… she glanced at Dawn, and remembered her earlier vow. The Key would die at her hands before she'd let Glory have it.

Or maybe… she wouldn't have to…

Illyana's eyes widened. It was a definite risk, but if it worked- if it worked, she might be able to take Glory out once and for all!

"Okay, everybody, listen to me! I have a plan…"

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

The blue fuzzy man lay on the floor. How did he get there? He waited a little too long between teleports. Glory did the rest.

Glory snarled. This was really pissing her off! She walked through the mansion, passing by doors. Finally, she heard muttered words coming from behind one of them. She recognized the voice, and smirked. It was about time! She ripped the door off its hinges.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Dawn was sitting on a chair. The others were pacing- waiting for Glory. Cordelia said it would come to the four of them against the HellGod, and- surprise, surprise- she was right.

"No matter what happens," Dawn suddenly said. "I want to thank you all for protecting me." All eyes turned to her.

"No thanks are needed," Angel said simply.

"They are! I mean, you're all fighting for me, and I can't do anything! Buffy won't let me learn how to fight, she won't let me learn magic- she won't let me learn to defend myself!"  
  


At that moment, the door ripped from its hinges.

"I'm not complaining, chicky," Glory smirked as she entered the room. Her smirk quickly became a grin of triumph.

Oz, Angel, Spike, Rahne, and Illyana stood for a moment, each silently praying to whatever god they believed in. Then, they reviewed the plan. It was desperate, but it might work. After a moment, they charged.

Dawn could only watch.

            The wolves reached her first. Rahne clawed at Glory's stomach, and Oz tried to rip the arteries in her legs to immobilize her. Rahne only tore the dress, and Oz didn't even leave visible marks.

            Angel slashed at Glory with his sword, while Spike went for her head. Their swords broke.

            Illyana ran Glory through with her sword. The Hellgod's eyes widened.

            "AAHH!" she yelled. "That really hurt, you little bitch!" She shoved the Soulsword out of her chest, and hit Illyana across the room. Angel and the others redoubled their attack.

            Glory stood motionless for a moment. That was a Soulsword! In her relatively weakened state, it could well… but the question was- did blondie know what it was capable of?

            With a mighty movement of her arms, she threw her assailants off of her. The blond chick was holding her Key's arm. Seeing Glory standing, the girls waved.

            "Bye, Glorificus," the bitch taunted as circles of light enveloped their feet and move up across their bodies. The brat was a teleporter!

            "Nice try, sweetie!" Glory shouted, and charged. She tackled the girls, and was enveloped in the teleportation. She vanished along with them.

            "It's all up t' ye now, Illyana," Rahne muttered, and silently prayed.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

            The dimension of Limbo was a dark, hellish place. It wasn't always like that, but it had long been changed to reflect the tastes of its masters. At the moment, it was the ideal of Lord Belasco, Limbo's last ruler.

            Its current ruler was rolling around on the ground wrestling a Hellgod.

            "You little bitch!" Glory screamed. "Did you think you could keep my Key away from me? Did you?"

            Dawn had escaped from the struggle- Illyana pushed her out, actually- and was looking around at her environment, looking at whatever she could, as long as it wasn't the struggle before her. Illyana was only human. She would- huh? Dawn's eyes bulged. She was staring at the one thing she did not expect to see.

            "Ben?"

            Her voice distracted the combatants, and both looked where Dawn was staring. Sure enough, Ben was there, lying on the ground, a dazed expression on his face.

            "Hey, I know that dress," Ben said, dazedly. He quickly snapped out of it.

            "No way," he breathed.

            Glory stood up.

            "So you're Ben," she snarled. "I thought I lost some annoying dead weight. I'll deal with _you_ in a minute."

"No way," Ben breathed again. For the first time in nine years, he felt… free. There wasn't that pressure in the back of his mind, always serving as a reminder of Glory's presence. That dark, gnawing hunger he always felt was gone. He really was free. He stood up.

"Now this is more like it!" Glory enthused, taking in her surroundings. She was in yet another dimension- she could feel it! Not her home, but a damn sight closer than the last mudball was. And then she was tackled.

"This is for my father!" Ben screamed, hitting her. "My mother!" Another blow. "All those people whose lives you ruined!" Another hit. "And _this_ is for _me_!" His hardest hit yet.

"Are you done, little man?" Glory asked, and then threw him off of her. She stood again.

"Anyone else wanna go?"

"I do," the blond witch purred. "Oh, and Glory? In case you're wondering where you are, you're in Limbo. And I'm Illyana Rasputin, its ruler."

Glory swallowed. She'd heard of the girl child that took down Belasco. And if she was the ruler of this realm like she claimed… No!

"This may be a hell," Illyana snarled, approaching Glory, who was beginning to back up. "But it's _my_ hell, and you know what?"

"What?" Glory asked, openly fearful.

"In this place," Illyana raised her sword, "_My will be done!_" She swung.

Dawn had never seen anyone beheaded before. Ben had, but this time, looking up from where he landed, he enjoyed watching.

Glory's body exploded. Dark energy crackled and escaped from the Hellgod's corporeal form. Dawn thought it was kinda like the death of the Emperor in The Return of the Jedi. Ben smiled. No more possessions. No more coming to in a dress. No more lying to people who wanted to be his friend. Soon, the energy died down. No body remained. Their tormentor was dead.

Dawn began to cry. It was over- it was finally over. Illyana went over to her newest friend, and held her as she cried in relief.

"So, uh- how are we going to get back," came Ben's voice. Having recovered from his parasite's hit, he was standing.

"As soon as we get you some clothes, sexy," Illyana grinned wickedly. Ben looked down, and blushed as he covered himself. Glory got the dress, and Ben- didn't.

"Too late, Ben," Dawn giggled, tears done. "We've already seen you."

"All of you," Illyana added. She summoned a towel, which Ben hastily wrapped around himself.

"Thanks," he said, gratefully. Part of him wondered why she didn't just zap up some clothing, but he didn't mind- she killed Glory. There were all sorts of things she could do that he wouldn't complain about.

"Come over here, sexy," she smirked, and Ben did as he was told. Circles of light enveloped them, and they returned to their home dimension, where friends and family awaited them.


	9. Epilogue A Reprise of Wedding Bells

Epilogue: A Reprise of the Wedding Bells

Note: I do not own the characters. None of them belong to me. That hasn't changed. The lyrics to "One" belong to U2. 'Jokesters-'R-Us' is my creation. If there is a real group with this name, my sincerest apologies. Its use was made out of ignorance, not plagiarism.

            Also note: the minister's dialogue is not mine, nor is Lila's wedding song spiel, nor is Lila, Jean's, and the Professor's 'last dance' dialogue. They all come from X-Men #36, coincidentally (or not) the wedding issue.

            I want to give a heartfelt thanks to everybody who read and reviewed. I'm glad you all liked it. It isn't perfect, but it did turn out better than I thought it would, if I do say so myself. I have many nebulous ideas for a sequel- hopefully, I can get a concrete idea very soon!

Salem Centre, NY., April 25, 2001

"This sash serves as a symbol of the matrimonial ties," the minister said as he bound Scott's and Jean's hands together. "The sacred pact you make before God, an exclamation of love, which will serve you through good times and bad. The Wedding vows to be spoken here today, have been prepared by the bride and groom themselves."

It was a bright day. The sun was shining. The set-up was perfect. The 'grounds' were perfect. There were no holes, no burn marks, and no evidence of a battle at all. Everything was a little small, but the setting made it all the more intimate. All in all, in spite of the chaos of the past few days, everything was perfect.

Charles Xavier sat in the front row of the audience, heart filled with both joy and sorrow as his eldest children were wed. Joy, because they were wed, and sorrow, because they were wed. For once in his life, he let his mental barriers down, and cast his mind throughout the celebrants, and remembered how this wedding gained a few more uninvited but most welcome guests.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

_"This place certainly does look like a war zone, sir," Steve Rogers, better known as Captain __America__, remarked._

_"For obvious reasons," the Professor replied. Those demons that tried to flee ran into the combined forces of the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and Doctor Strange. Very few escaped intact. Unfortunately, all of Glory's minions were in that group. Buffy could expect them to cause trouble when or if they returned to Sunnydale. Hopefully, they had learned the dangers of attacking the X-Men._

_"I'm only sorry we couldn't be here to help. By the time we got back to our mansion and Jarvis gave us your message, it was too late."_

_"Well, we survived, but your help would have been most appreciated." Which was the truth. Despite the fact that the X-Men were often at odds with the more publicly respected and sanctioned superhero teams, there was no ill will between them. There was even some friendship._

_"Speaking for us, I'm only sorry that we couldn't help you in your battle, although I suppose it was best that we didn't."_

_"True. I can't speak for Doctor Strange or the Fantastic Four or even the rest of the Avengers, but I would have been glad for the X-Men's help with Belasco."_

_"He does have a new dimension, then?"_

_"Unfortunately, but there is an opposition to him.__ They might just be able to kick him out. You're still going to have to be on your guard, though. He remembers you."_

_"The warning's appreciated. Thank you. And thank you for your help with the clean-up." The Professor hadn't been expecting the offer, but he was grateful for it. Everyone was helping- even Lila's band was pitching in._

_"We still owe you for that last one, remember?"_

_"You realize I'm going to have to invite you all to the wedding for this."_

_"I know. Cyclops and Ms. Grey are fine people. You realize we're going to have to accept."_

_"I know." The two returned to the business of repairing the X-Mansion._

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

"There were times I was lost, and you found me. There were days which were heavy, and you lightened my heart."

From where she was standing as Jean's bridesmaid, Dawn took a quick moment to look out at the crowd. Her new friends and the rest of her family- minus two- were there, as were a whole bunch of superheroes. She decided that superheroes were the coolest people on the planet. Especially Doctor Strange- Willow, Tara, and to a lesser extent Illyana and Amanda, were practically hanging on every word he said.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

_"Well, young lady, it would seem that you're none the worse for your little jaunt," Stephen Strange said after he finished examining Dawn. By the Eternal Vishanti! The Order of Dagon did their work well. It took the Eye of Agamotto to reveal the girl's true nature. If not for the Eye, if he hadn't been told the truth he wouldn't have known until it was much too late._

_"I thought so," Illyana grinned. She, Dawn, Ben, and the other sorceresses were in the Professor's private study, where the Sorcerer Supreme was examining Dawn, Ben, and the room in general to make sure no tears in the dimensional walls were created. Fortunately, no tears were made._

_"You still took one hell of a risk, young lady," Amanda told her, a little angry. When she first discovered Illyana's plan… it was not pleasant. And for good reason- taking the Key out of its home dimension risked bringing down the dimensional barriers, thereby doing Glory's work for her._

_"I said it before, and I'll say it again: if Glory got Dawn, it was either kill her, or move her. Should I have killed Dawn?"_

_"No, of course not," __Tara__ broke in, before the argument could escalate. "In fact, a-all things considered, it was a pretty good plan, but you did take a big risk- two, actually. I mean, even though she was seriously de-powered, Glory was still a god. How did you know you could take her?"_

_"Being a ruler of a dimension is like being a Sorcerer Supreme in that it confers certain… power upon one, Tara," Doctor Strange told her. "Believe me, I know." His expression was wry. Oh, he had power, but much responsibility too._

_"I bet you could teach us so much!" __Willow__ suddenly exploded. She had been silent most of the time. Xander could keep Lila Cheney, and Angel was welcome to Alison- she had Stephen Strange here, and oh God, but he must think I'm a little idiot._

_"Perhaps," he smiled. "But you may well have a chance to find out soon enough."_

_"Oh?"_

_"Yes- there are still all of Glory's victims in Sunnydale. I want to see if I can help them. Would you and Tara be willing to help me?"_

_Willow__ made dolphin noises._

_"The dolphin-noise means 'yes, I'd love to,'" __Tara__ smiled. "And she speaks for both of us." She took her girlfriend's hand as __Willow__ calmed down._

_"Shutting up now," __Willow__ muttered._

_"Do you really think you can help them, Doctor?" Ben asked, face solemn for the first time since the Doctor cleared him, confirming that Glory was no longer a problem. Somehow, being teleported into another dimension separated Glory from Ben somehow- obviously- but Doctor Strange didn't know how or even why. Ben didn't care, though- the bitch was gone, never to return, and that was all he needed to know._

_"I hope so."_

_"Of course you can," Amanda told him. "You're the Sorcerer Supreme!"_

_"I thank you for your faith in me."_

_"Well-deserved," Illyana added._

_"Please- stop before my head swells," the Doctor laughed._

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

"Through it all, since the day we met, there was you for me and me for you. That hasn't changed. That will never change."

Buffy looked from Scott- sweat, silly grin and all- and Jean- who was managing to remain calm, although she privately confided to all her bridesmaids that she was a wreck- to Dawn, who was watching Scott and Jean. Dawn had proven herself- she stayed calm and cool when by all rights she should have been a wreck. She had also proven sneaky- many of the X-Men, the New Mutants, the investigators, and even the Scoobies had made a point of pulling Buffy aside during the clean-up and repair to tell Buffy how wonderfully Dawn had held up and how she should teach Dawn how to fight and/or let Willow and Tara start teaching her magic. She sensed her sister's hand in those messages, somehow. And that wasn't the only thing Buffy was told.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

_Buffy was doing various jobs repairing the grounds, and was only half concentrating on it. She was paying more attention to the conversations in the background. She was working hard- really!- but since the X-Men insisted on repairing their home themselves- which she got- and not by magic, like Doctor Strange offered, and with the other heroes abiding by their wishes, there was really no way for the grounds to be repaired by tomorrow. It would be a miracle to even get the gates up and running by then._

_"I cannot believe I was taken out so easily!" Peter groaned for the umpteenth time._

_"Thou hast never faced a golem before, friend Colossus," Thor- the Thor!- told him. Apparently the Professor had put the word about the fight with Glory out to the general superhero community, and no one responded because they were all fighting a battle in another dimension. However, because some of them owed the X-Men a debt for a save that no one was mentioning. They decided to help clean up the mansion and the grounds for the big event the next day. "Do not be too hard on thyself."_

_"With all due respect sir," Sam told him, "it's easy for you to say. You've never been sucker-punched before- or sucker-gassed, or- ah, you know what Ah mean!"_

_"I do, young Cannonball, and actually, I have been 'sucker-gassed' as thou put it, if not by a golem. 'Tis not a story I am proud of."_

_"But 'tis a very funny one," Hercules- yes, that Hercules!- laughed. The two Avengers had something of a friendly rivalry going on, or so it seemed. They were able to work together though- proven when they verbally tag-teamed Anya, who had a few encounters with them in her 1200 years of life. They weren't too cruel, but they were smug- apparently, she really pissed them off in the past, somehow._

_"Really?"__ Roberto asked, intrigued._

_"Watch thy step, friend Hercules, or I shall have to start telling tales of my own- say, for instance, about thee and those enchanted harpies and the black lotus patch."_

_"Is that a threat, Asgardian?" Hercules boomed._

_"Nay, 'tis a promise, Olympian," Thor boomed back._

_"Ah, quiet, both a ya! It's brewski time!" came the Thing- for the third time yes, that Thing- who came over, carrying a case of beer._

_"Break time already?" __Logan__ asked "Good. I could use a cold brew right about now!"_

_"Yup."__ The Thing started tossing cans- to Thor, Logan, Hercules, Peter, and even Sam and 'Berto._

_"But we're to young ta drink!" Sam reminded him._

_"Kid, yer old enough ta fight demons," __Logan__ told him. "I think yer old enough fer a brew."_

_"Can't argue with that logic, Sam," 'Berto grinned._

_"Guess not," he agreed, with a face full of plainly false reluctance. Both their eyes turned to Peter who mock-sighed._

_"Fine, fine- my lips are zipped."_

_Buffy snorted. Men! What was it with them and beer? It probably had something to do with those little heads on their-_

_She heard arguing behind her. She gradually moved toward it. Moira MacTaggart stormed off past her. She looked, and Giles was hanging his head._

_"Problem, Giles?" she hated seeing her second father looking so- so down._

_"What- no, no of course not, Buffy."___

_"Giles," she said warningly._

_He was still silent._

_"Giles!"___

_He sighed._

_"You remember Eyghon?" he asked._

_"Like I could ever forget."__ Okay, Ripper story._

_"Well, I used to date Moira at the same time I was… experimenting. She didn't know what I was really doing, but her younger brother Robert did. In fact, I brought him into our little fold. Well, Robby didn't have the same kind of defences that the rest of us had."_

_"So Eyghon wouldn't get out when he was supposed to."_

_"No. It waited until one of us was weak enough for it to fully possess, and-" his voice broke, "and I handed it Robby."_

_"What happened?"_

_"After possessing Robby a few times, Eyghon chose him as its vessel. It didn't leave when it was supposed to. It took Robby's body, and it… tormented Moira. The rest of us stopped Robby by shooting him. The Watcher's Council covered the entire affair up, and I went with my father. Robby's death is what finally caused me to embrace my destiny as a Watcher."_

_"Who actually shot him?" Buffy had a sneaking suspicion she knew exactly who it was, and it wasn't Giles._

_"It was Ethan."_

_"Thought so.__ So that's what came between the two of you, huh?"_

_"Yes. Ethan had… done things before that, but I could always rationalize them. After he shot Robby, he said he did it because it was the easiest thing to do. Not the best, but the easiest. I saw his true self, then."_

_"And Moira?"___

_"That night was the last time I saw her until I came here. I tried to look for her after I became a full Watcher, but I could never find her."_

_"So there's a lot of unfinished business between you two, huh?"_

_"To put it mildly."___

_"Did you really care for her?"_

_Giles smiled sadly._

_"You remember how I felt for Jenny? I felt much the same for Moira."_

_Oh, man. Buffy hugged him briefly. Giles returned it, awkwardly._

_"She'll come around," she said after they broke their embrace._

_"Perhaps.__ One day." She could tell that Giles didn't believe it._

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

"Times have been good, and times have been bad, and still our love has endured and triumphed. I take Scott Summers to be my lawfully wedded husband. I take Jean Grey to be my lawfully wedded wife. Through pain and passion, through sorrow and hope, through death and through life. No matter what tomorrow may bring, we will face it together." Jean took her ring from Joey's pillow, and placed it on Scott's finger. "I now pronounce you husband and wife," the Minister finished as Scott took his ring from Joey's pillow and placed it on Jean's finger. The minister gave a mischievous smirk that would have done Kurt proud. "Let's see a kiss now."

Scott and Jean leaned in close. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him down, and they kissed. Xander would later quip that if the kiss was any hotter, they would have ignited. Many people applauded warmly; those closest to the bride and groom cheered.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

The dance floor was beautiful in its simplicity- the 'lawn' itself. Scott and Jean took their positions, and waited.

"The wedding song chosen by the couple will be 'Hyperactive,' by Thomas Dolby," Lila proclaimed. Several heads turned to look at her- those people obviously didn't know her very well. "Hey, juuusst kidding there, folks. The song is 'One,' by U2."

The music of the song, simultaneously sorrowful and uplifting, rose, a Scott and Jean began their dance.
    
                   "Is it getting better Or do you feel the same Will it make it easier on you Now you got someone to blame." Lila's voice was beautiful, matching the tone and mood of the song perfectly. But she had a guest singer as well.
    
                   "You say One love One life When it´s one need In the night It´s one love We get to share it It leaves you baby If you don´t care for it," Lorne sang, with a heartbreakingly sorrowful voice.
    
                   "Did I disappoint you? Or leave a bad taste in your mouth? You act like you never had love And you want me to go without" Lila continued.
    
                   "Well it´s too late Tonight To drag the past out Into the light We´re one But we´re not the same We get to carry each other Carry each other One," Lorne sang.
    
                   "Have you come here for forgiveness Have you come to raise the dead Have you come here to play Jesus To the lepers in your head Did I ask too much More than a lot," Lila's voice rang out like a bell.
    
                   "You gave me nothing Now it´s all I got We´re one But we´re not the same We hurt each other Then we do it again," Lorne flawlessly continued from where Lila left off.
    
                   "You say Love is a temple Love is a higher law Love is a temple Love is a higher law You ask me to enter But then you make me crawl! And I can´t be holding on To what you got When all you got is hurt," the two sang together, voices blending- merging- until it resembled both of them and neither of them.
    
                   "One love One blood One life You got to do what you should One life With each other Sisters Brothers One life But we´re not the same We get to carry each other Carry each other One One."
    
            Stunned silence followed for a few seconds after they finished. Their rendition would have done Bono himself proud. Then, the assembled guests broke into wild, heartfelt applause as Lila and Lorne bowed. All that is, except Scott and Jean, who held each other still, staring into each others eyes. The song was over, but the reality was finally sinking in. One love. One blood. One life. With each other. They kissed. One thought passed between them.
    
                   *I can't wait.*
    
    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *
    
                   Apart from the others, Xander held Anya. Xander was nervous, and kept thinking about the little surprise in his pocket. He was going to do this when Giles interrupted them with his desperate phone call, but he kept it with him anyway. Now was as good a time as any. Mustering his courage, he began to speak.
    
                   "Ahn?"
    
                   "Yes, Xander?"
    
                   "This wedding is beautiful, isn't it?"
    
                   "Yeah. I wonder how much the Professor is forking out?"
    
                   Xander laughed. Anya was Anya, after all, and that was why he loved her.
    
                   "I dunno. Think our wedding will be this nice?"
    
                   Anya stiffened in his grasp. What the hell was Xander talking about? They weren't even engaged.  
    
      
    
    
    
                   "Xander, what the hell are you talking about? We're not even engaged."  
    
      
    
    
    
                   "I know, and I want to change that." Xander stepped back, and pulled a small black box from his pocket. Anya's eyes widened.
    
                   "I- I had a little speech ready, but I really can't remember it right now, but I know you'd want me to just come straight out and ask you, so I will: Anya Christina Emmanuella Jenkins, will you marry me?" He opened the box. A beautiful ring was inside. Anya's jaw dropped.
    
                   "I know it's not very big, but don't worry- your wedding ring will be bigger."
    
                   Anya didn't hear him. She was staring at the ring. She took it, put it on, and looked up at him, tears in her eyes.
    
                   "Yes, Alexander Lavelle Harris," she whispered. "I will marry you." And then she grabbed Xander's shoulders and pushed him into the 'bushes' and proved it.
    
                   Xander's last coherent thought was of how realistic those 'bushes' were…
    
    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *
    
                   _Everybody was gathered on the front lawn of the Xavier Institute for a picnic supper- a sort of thank you to all the non-inhabitants for their hard work in rebuilding._
    
    _               "If I may have your attention please," the Professor said. Within- relatively- short order, all eyes were on him._
    
    _               "Firstly, I would like to congratulate all of you for the wonderful job you've all been doing repairing the mansion and grounds." This of course, was met by applause._
    
    _               "But it seems the damage was even more extensive than it seemed at first. As some of you know, Cyclops and Jean Grey were to be married here tomorrow." A general cry of "congratulations" and even a few "well it's about time's' (from people who knew the X-Men the longest, like Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch)._
    
    _               "Yes, yes, I agree. But the mansion is really in no condition to be used to host a wedding. So if anyone has any suggestions of a place that can be booked quickly, I'm all ears."_
    
    _               Silence reigned for a moment._
    
    _               "Umm, excuse me Professor," Fred said._
    
    _               "Yes, Fred?"_
    
    _               "Well, Henry here-" she gestured to Hank, who really hit it off with Fred- "was telling me a bit about your facilities, and it seems to me that you've already got a place you can use- that is, if you let people in your Danger Room."_
    
    _               The Danger Room? No one had thought of that!_
    
    _               "Hmm… a good idea, Fred. A very good idea! The Danger Room may prove to be a bit cozy, but it may just fit everyone."_
    
    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *
    
                   Later, the party began to break up. But not before one last, special dance was called.
    
                   "Excuse me for one minute folks… if we could all gather 'round," Lila called. "To close the festivities, the bride has requested one last, _very_ special dance."
    
                   Jean approached the Professor, and stretched a hand out to him.
    
                   "Charles," she asked solemnly, "would you do me the honour?"
    
                   "Jean, I- you know I can't-" he replied, very surprised.
    
                   "My mother taught me to save the last dance for the man who brought you to the ball. And that man, dear Charles… would be _you_." The Professor was suddenly lifted out of his wheelchair, and straightened by Jean's telekinesis. The guests all gasped, but not all for the same reason. Many smiled. A few even beamed.
    
                   "Jean," the Professor began, warningly, "some of the people here- they don't know about us-"
    
                   "Most of the guests have left," she retorted as they began to dance. "And what if they did know about us Charles? That I'm a mutant? Or that I'm a woman who wants to celebrate the best day of her life? If dancing with you is what makes me happy- and being a mutant gives me the opportunity to do that- then there's nothing in the world I'd rather be… than a mutant. And I'm proud to dance with the man who taught me that- that being one should in no way limit the happiness I can enjoy- or the love I might share- with those I'm blessed to call… my family."
    
                   Those close enough to hear her words had tears come down their cheeks. Even some of those out of earshot were crying.
    
                   Buffy was in earshot. She looked out at her own family and friends. Dawn. Scott. Alex. Jean. Lorna. Giles. Willow. Xander. Angel. Tara. Oz. Cordelia. Anya. Wesley. She even felt close to Angel's newest associates- Gunn, Lorne, and Fred- as well as to the X-Men and New Mutants. She didn't remember what her life was like before the monks made Dawn, but that past didn't matter. If not for the monks, this day wouldn't be quite what it was. She thanked them, wherever they were (and she hoped it was a good place), for that.
    
                   She looked up at the fake 'sky.' She could see a small star begin to shine. She frowned. The Professor had programmed the Danger Room to be an exact replica of the X-Men's backyard (shrunk to proportion as needed), and even set it up to follow the sun and weather patterns. Buffy knew what dusk was like. That star was just a little too early.
    
                   -Just accept it, Buffy- she heard, or thought she did. Her eyes widened. The star brightened a little bit, then faded away.
    
                   "Mom," she whispered, then began to cry. She knew her mother would make it, somehow. Tears streaming down her cheeks, Buffy joined in clapping when the last dance was over.
    
    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *
    
                   New York, N.Y., April 27, 2001.
    
                   The combined teams spent the next day finishing the repairs to the mansion, and the day after that was spent resting and relaxing. That night, it was time to say goodbye.
    
                   The Scoobies and the investigators were going to spend a few more hours with Scott and Jean, as the couple managed to postpone their honeymoon until the mansion was repaired. They were on their way to Hawai'i, with a stop at Los Angeles where the AI crew would get off completely and the Scoobies would get on a connector to Sunnydale. Alex and Lorna were going with them- there was a connector from Sunnydale back to their home, where they would set their affairs in order, and return to New York as soon as possible. They had come to a decision- they were going to return to the X-Men.
    
                   Buffy was hugging the Professor.
    
                   "Thank you, Professor," she whispered. "For everything."
    
                   "It was truly my pleasure, Buffy," he whispered back. They broke the embrace.
    
                   "Now please call us when you arrive, just so we know you arrived intact."
    
                   "Will do."
    
                   "And Buffy?"
    
                   "Yeah?"
    
                   "If you ever need anything, anything at all, call me."
    
                   Buffy smiled.
    
                   "Will do- but only if you do the same."
    
                   "Consider it a deal," the Professor smiled. Buffy went to hug the others.
    
                   "Now you've got all our e-mails?" Xi'an asked Dawn.
    
                   "Yup," Dawn replied, and to prove it, she rattled them off.
    
                   "It was great meeting you all," she said as she hugged the eldest New Mutant, a hug which quickly became a group hug.
    
                   "Now please remember to keep in touch," she reminded them.
    
                   "But SelfriendDawn," Warlock said, "there many of us and only one of you. Isn't it more likely that _you_ would forget?"
    
                   Dawn laughed. As did the others. Warlock eventually joined in. He didn't know what was so funny, but he was used to his friends laughing at some of his most logical statements by now.
    
                   Xander felt incredibly happy. Not only was he engaged to the woman he loved, but he got the autographs of every superhero at the wedding.
    
                   "So, if I use lilac and marigold instead of rose and marigold…" Tara and Ororo were talking about magic. The demonstration of non-evil sorcery at the wedding, particularly Tara's earth-based spells, sparked Ororo's interest in the magic biz. Xander didn't really get magic.
    
                   He looked over to find Anya, and saw her, Giles, and Warren in an intense discussion. He sighed. During the wedding- after the Professor and friends broke up the couple's private festivities- Anya found Warren and started talking business. He was politely disinterested, and tried to make her go away… until she unveiled the Magic Box's financial statement (Xander still didn't know how she managed to conceal it in the dress she bought for the wedding). Needless to say, Mr. Worthington became _very_ interested.
    
                   Buffy, Cordy, Lorne, and Ben (who would be returning with them to repair his life as best he could) were talking to some of the X-Men, Dawn was with the New Mutants (and Kitty), Angel, Spike and Gunn were talking to Logan, and Willow was talking animatedly with Fred and Hank about computers. Ugh- techno-geek babble.
    
                   The only free person was Bobby, also watching the compunerds.
    
                   "Don'tcha just hate it when people speak in tongues you can't follow," he asked Bobby.
    
                   "Especially when one of them's your best friend," Bobby agreed. "I know a bit about computers, but I cannot follow this. You?"
    
                   "I dunno. It's all Geek to me." 
    
                   Bobby laughed. Xander knew he'd appreciate it- they seemed to have the same sense of humour. Bobby turned to Xander, eyes twinkling.
    
                   "I heard this joke on the net. 'Two Geeks walk into a leather bar-'"
    
                   "'I'll have two more just like them,'" Xander gave the punch line, surprised. He only consistently frequented one website on the internet, a Group called Jokesters-'R-Us. That joke was a private members-only joke, told to people upon joining. Bobby's eyes widened, too. Xander decided to try.
    
                   "'A midget and a fat lady went to the beach-'" Xander began.
    
                   "'Scuba diving suits,'" Bobby finished. They just stared at each other.
    
                   "Jokesters-'R-Us," Bobby asked.
    
                   "Uh-huh."
    
                   "Shpedoinkle," they breathed.
    
                   "I'm Jokeydale900," Xander said. "You?"
    
                   "No way! You're Jokeydale? I'm Jokeman3000!" Bobby replied.
    
                   "Hey!" Xander enthused. They man-hugged.
    
                   "I can't believe it! What are the chances of meeting somebody in the flesh? I mean-"
    
                   "Yeah, I know! It's freaky, isn't it?"
    
                   A throat cleared behind Xander. He turned to see the source.
    
                   "I didn't know you two were so close," Anya said.
    
                   "We met online, actually," Bobby told her.
    
                   "How long have you known each other?"
    
                   "Ah-" they looked at each other- "over a year, I think."
    
                   Xander thought back to when he first discovered the group, and got Willow to help him join.
    
                   "Sounds about right."
    
                   "Okay. Are you two trusted friends?"
    
                   A bit of a tough question. They'd talked online for over a year, exchanging life experiences along with the jokes- even if those experiences were highly sanitized and scrubbed of any unbelievable elements such as Sentinels and vampires- and they had fought together to save the world…
    
                   "I guess so."
    
                   "Yeah, " Bobby agreed.
    
                   "Good. How does a threesome sound?"
    
                   Xander's blood ran cold. Bobby's blood ran… colder than usual.
    
                   "Remember Xander? When I suggested we find a guy for a threesome, you said you'd only consider doing it with a trusted friend, and now you've got one, and he's pretty cute. Besides, I've heard that tawdry sex in airport bathrooms is both common and fun."
    
                   Xander and Bobby thought they were going to die- and that was before they heard the laughter. Sure enough, Murphy's Law took effect- Anya had been overheard. Giles was wiping his glasses, and the Professor appeared mortified. Some of the Scoobies were shaking their heads, but were snickering. Some of the New Mutants were embarrassed. The rest were laughing their heads off.
    
                   They were saved by the first call to board. The vampires and Lorne had decided to fly in baggage again ("Lot's more room and no annoying passengers"), so they had to leave right then. The travellers made their last farewells and went their separate ways.
    
                   "So Bobby, how does a threesome sound?" Hank asked straight-faced.
    
                   "Yes," Warren added, equally straight-faced. "You're a trusted friend, and tawdry sex in airport bathrooms is both common and fun."
    
                   "OH SHUT UP!" The two old friends began to guffaw at their younger friend's embarrassment.
    
                   When the plane finally took off, Buffy Summers, who somehow got a row to herself and chose the window seat, looked out the window at the land below. She had made some new friends in New York, and also renewed some old friendships. She knew she'd see them again, though- but hopefully, an apocalypse wouldn't be involved. Of course, if it was, it was now officially her fault.
    
                   She looked back into the plane. Dawn was seated in the aisle across from her, talking to Fred about all the cool taco places in Sunnydale and how there were bound to be lots in Los Angeles. Of all the things to miss about the world- then again, if Buffy were enslaved in another dimension for five years, she'd probably be afraid that ice cream was no more. Giles, Wesley, Alex, and Lorna were seated a few rows away. She couldn't hear them, but she knew they were talking about Pylea, the dimension where Lorne came from and where Fred had spent the past five years as a slave, as well as all the places Alex and Lorna had been as part of the X-Men. Behind her, she could hear Willow, Cordy, and Tara talking about Cordy and her visions- what they were like and how much they hurt, and stuff like that. Buffy was glad her own 'messages from beyond' didn't come with pain- at first. In front of her, Gunn and Anya were carrying on a conversation about demons, moderated by Xander, Scott, Jean, and Ben. That was a strange group. Gunn was a pretty cool guy, and he actually chose to fight demons without being chosen or anything. Anya, a human that became a demon, should have been his worst enemy, but apparently, his association with Lorne and Angel mellowed him out- a bit. Maybe his encounters with Warlock, Hank, and Kurt, helped too. They must have, because Jean and Scott were comparing the demon subculture with the mutant subculture, with Ben's help- he was unsurprisingly knowledgeable about demon life in a human world- and no one started shouting. From the walkie-talkie she had been given, she could hear Angel and Spike argue about which was better- Dark Shadows, or Passions- while Lorne tried to keep them apart. Apparently, the truce only lasted until Dawn was definitely out of danger, because those two were back at it.
    
                   The Slayer leaned back in her seat, and let contentment seep over her. The Hellmouth awaited, and the vampires, demons, and diverse forces of darkness had gone too long without a Slayer to keep them in check. But that was a worry very much for the later. Now was the time to relax and be happy, surrounded by so many of her kith and kin, or maybe she should take a nap- she must be tired to actually use the phrase 'kith and kin.' She set her watch alarm for an hour- so that when she awoke there would still be time to talk- and closed her eyes.
    
    T
    
    H
    
    E
    
    E
    
    N
    
    D
    
    .
    
    .
    
    .
    
    O
    
    R
    
    I
    
    S
    
    I
    
    T
    
    ?
    
    Epilogue 2: An Ominous Closing Note
    
                   Re-constitution was an utter _bitch_, but it was possible. Anything was possible for a being of her might and power. Actually, the brat may have done her an unwitting favour- if she decapitated her while she was still tied to Ben, Her spirit may well have followed his into death. As it was, it was damned difficult to re-constitute into a body. She had come close to the final death many times during the process- the bitch did her job well enough for that, she reluctantly admitted- but that was behind her now. Now, she was not only free, but in a plane that was, while not completely suited to her magnificence, was close enough that she didn't even need to prey for sustenance.
    
                   Finally, finally, she had something resembling a corporeal form. It wasn't beautiful, not by any standards, let alone hers- it may have even given her minions nightmares- but it was strong and functional.
    
                   She moved about her new surroundings. She soon found what she sought- a natural denizen of Limbo.
    
                   She grabbed it by its throat. It's eyes widened- even in her crude form, it recognized this being for what she was.
    
                   "Now tell me, dearie," she rumbled, "who's in charge here?"  
    
      
    
    
    
                   "The Lady Illyana," it hissed, fearful for its life, as well it should be.
    
                   "I'm not talking about the sorceress!" She snapped, then regained her composure. "I'm talking about the top demon."
    
                   "That- that would be S'ym."
    
                   "Then, be a good little imp and go to S'ym. Tell him that Glorificus the Almighty grants him an audience," she proclaimed in her most imperious tone. Well, the most imperious tone this form could muster.
    
                   The little creature laughed in her grip.
    
                   "S'ym won't come to you."
    
                   Glory gave her nastiest smile. _That_ was something this form excelled at.
    
                   "If he is resistant, tell him that Glorificus is willing to help him overthrow the human bitch. Tell me, she doesn't allow you your pleasures like Belasco did, does she?"
    
                   The imp's wide-eyed expression gave her an answer.
    
                   "Well, tell S'ym that Glorificus will." She let the imp go, and it flew off.
    
                   She reclined back into the rock. She knew how imp's mind's worked. One way or another, S'ym would be coming to her, and when he did… oh, but she had one _hell_ of an offer for him. So, the little bitch kept the demons reigned in, did she? Well, that made her job easier- and gave her the perfect line to sucker S'ym with. She had a plan for Illyana Rasputin, one that S'ym was bound to approve of, if he was a self-respecting demon at all.
    
                   "Your will be done, bitch?" she asked the absent sorceress. "Well not for long. _My_ will be done. Forever and ever and ever." And then she laughed and laughed and laughed…
    
    THE END… OR… THE BEGINNING?


End file.
